The Porg Princess
by JackieStarSister
Summary: Senator Leia Organa is planning a birthday party for her son, Jedi trainee Ben Solo, hoping he will meet a nice girl and settle down. To distract himself, Ben goes hunting in the forest on Takodana, where he meets a Force-sensitive girl under a sorcerer's spell. Can he set her free? What if she is not the one the sorcerer is after? AU based on various adaptations of Swan Lake.
1. Parents and Parties

_Published December 26, 2018_

Parents and Parties

* * *

What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? ~ James 4:1, New International Version

* * *

Most schools in the galaxy gave students a vacation to celebrate the anniversary of the end of the war. Luke Skywalker's Jedi training temple was no exception. Of all the teachers that could have exercised that privilege, it was thought he had more right than any other to do so.

As a child, going to school on Chandrila, Ben Solo had felt as though this break was a birthday gift. Now, he was all but indifferent to it. His parents were usually too busy to spend much of the vacation with him. They were always being invited to ceremonies or celebrations related to commemorating the war they had fought in.

So when Leia asked him to come home for the vacation, and Han came to pick him up, Ben was surprised and a little suspicious. At some point in his adolescence, he had come to distrust unsolicited attentions and gestures of kindness from his parents. He had recognized a pattern over the years: they usually did special things for him when they felt obligated to make up for something they had done or planned to do. Ben wondered if they had already done something, or were going to ask him to endure something they planned to do.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Ben muttered to R2-D2, who had been keeping him company as he waited for the ship. The little droid did not understand why the _Millennium Falcon_ would make him feel this way.

Han disembarked and approached his son with a smile more tentative than his normal, cocky grin. "Hey kid."

"Dad. I thought Uncle Luke would drop me off, or Mom would send her pilot to pick me up," he said neutrally, not matching Han's friendly smile. Ben had actually hoped he might be able to fly himself home. He enjoyed flying, and he rarely had the opportunity to do so under Luke's training schedule.

Han feigned indignation. "Excuse me, but I think I can claim that job title."

"Aren't we all her pilots—you, Ben, and me?" Luke came up to them, smiling and holding a hand out to his brother-in-law.

Han shook his hand and clapped his shoulder. "How're the padawans treating you?"

Ben tensed at this question. He knew at some point Luke would tell his parents about his latest episodes—the fight he got into outside of training hours, the times he lost control while sparring, the stupid spin-the-light-saber game that had gone so horribly awry.

But Luke did not mention any of this now. He just smiled thinly and said, "They haven't gotten me down yet."

"Good. Leia's hoping you'll come around at some point, maybe around Ben's birthday."

"I'll try." Luke turned to his nephew. "You have everything?"

"Yeah." Ben hefted his one bag of worldly belongings onto his shoulder.

"Have a good time."

Ben grunted and started toward the _Millennium Falcon_. Han glanced at his son and then back at Luke, who lowered his voice and spoke in a more serious tone. "Han, I was wondering if you and Leia are planning to do it soon."

Han's demeanor changed immediately, becoming more somber. "I'm going to talk to her about it."

A beat passed before Luke spoke again. "Alright. I'll come visit later in the break. Take care until then."

"You too."

Just inside the _Falcon_ 's entrance, Ben could not hear the exact words, but he sensed the two men's unease and apprehension. He intuitively knew it had to do with him, but it also concerned something else, something he did not know. Realizing the conversation was over, Ben skirted away from the entrance, dropped his bag on the bench, and hurried to the cockpit. When Han reached it a moment later, he found Ben sitting in the copilot's chair.

Han glanced between the seats and suggested, "Why don't you take the pilot's chair?"

Ben's almost perpetual frown softened in surprise. "Really?"

"Why not?"

Ben had flown plenty of vehicles and even co-piloted when Han flew the _Falcon_ , but he had never been trusted with the task of piloting the beloved freighter.

He tried to appear nonchalant as he took the pilot's seat and surveyed the controls that he had practically memorized as a child. When he glanced up, he saw Han's gold dice hanging just where they were supposed to be. The sight made Ben smile, almost feeling like he was coming home. For a moment he began to entertain the possibility that this vacation might be different, might actually be enjoyable.

Ben's relationship with his parents was complicated at best. As a child he had idolized them, and even now he envied their confidence and self-assurance. But as he had grown older, Ben had noticed more and more flaws in their personalities and differences between the three of them.

Han had taught Ben what he could about being a pilot, a mechanic, a smuggler. Regarding this last occupation, he had insisted that even if Ben never became one, which he shouldn't, he still should know the tricks of the trade in order to outsmart any he ran into. But Ben's Force-sensitivity and Han's lack of it had always seemed like a barrier, preventing them from truly connecting and understanding each other. Leia's power in the Force was not much help, since she had chosen not to hone it to the extent Luke did. Her power manifested itself in subtle ways, not like Ben's uncontrollable outbursts.

Flying was one of the few things Ben and Han had ever truly bonded over. Han was grateful for that, because it was what he most loved and wanted to share with his son and pass on to him. If Ben had not been Force-sensitive, he might have followed in his father's footsteps, racing for prizes, running a shipping company, or serving in the military. Ben had argued that Force-sensitivity made him a better pilot, the way it had his uncle and maternal grandfather; but true as that may have been, he still needed to learn how to better control and channel his power. So his parents had sent him to train with Luke, and Han had started mentoring other young aspiring pilots, taking strangers under his wing instead of his own son. Leia similarly hired teenagers to be her interns in the New Republic Senate. She said she wanted to be the kind of friend and mentor Mon Mothma had been to her, but Ben suspected she really wanted a replacement son, or a daughter figure.

Ben was positive that if he had been born a girl, his mother would have raised him very differently. The throne of Alderaan had been passed down a matrilineal line, between mothers and daughters more often than fathers and sons. That was why Bail and Breha Organa had preferred to adopt a girl rather than a boy. Leia probably would have schooled a daughter in politics, diplomacy, and culture. Leia had not really known what to do with a boy who showed no innate interest or aptitude for those things. Her life tended to revolve around them.

Seeing his parents after these long intervals apart usually only served to remind Ben of the many things he resented about them. At this point in his life, it seemed as though there was no satisfactory solution: anything they did for him seemed too little, too late.

When they got to Leia's apartment on Hosnian Prime, C-3PO let them in. "Captain Solo! Oh! And Master Ben as well! It is good to see you again."

"Hello, Threepio."

Leia came out of an adjacent room, smiling at the two of them. She hugged Han and then Ben, holding them both tightly. Not for the first time, Ben was struck by how small she was next to him. She had always been short, and he had surpassed her height in his early teen years. "It's so good to finally see you both." From the way she looked at them, it seemed like she meant it, and from the way Han looked at her, it seemed the feeling was mutual between them.

The kitchen droid had already prepared and laid out a meal for them. Somehow Ben ended up sitting on the side of the table between his parents, which gave him the feeling that they were talking over him. They talked easily enough with each other. Even though they often argued and spent most of their time apart, they somehow slipped back into their rapport every time they reunited. When they talked about their respective work, they included their son in the conversation more as an afterthought than anything else.

Leia vented her frustrations about the Senate, which currently was divided into two factions, the Populists and the Centrists, who disagreed on how much power should be held by the New Republic and the individual planets that belonged to it. The problem was decades old by now; it had been the root cause of the Clone Wars as well as the Rebellion. Evidently Leia was becoming fed up with how ineffective the Senate had proven to be since Mon Mothma stepped down as chancellor.

"I'm starting to look forward to retiring," she said, to Ben's surprise and Han's skepticism. Neither of them could imagine her giving up her work. She had always been involved in either politics or military service. That dual calling had taken precedence even when she started a family. Ben wondered how she could have forced herself to do that work during his childhood, yet finally give it up when he was an adult and no longer needed her around.

When his parents tried to focus on him, he had little to say about himself and what he had been doing, because they asked about the things he least liked to think and talk about.

At one point, inevitably, Leia asked Ben, "Is there anyone at the temple that you like?"

Ben groaned at this question. The answer was always the same: "No." There were two or three female padawans who had made him feel nervous, who struck him as particularly witty or talented or good-looking, but he had never formed any meaningful connections with any of his classmates. Most of them eventually came to either resent or fear him, or both.

In a rare show of tact, Han changed the subject from school to vacation. "Is there anything you've been hoping to do during the break? Or for your birthday?"

"No," Ben answered flatly.

"Anywhere you want to go?"

"Where would I go?"

Han thought for a moment. "Well, there aren't any major competitions going on, but I could call some friends together for a race, just for fun."

"You don't have to work?"

"I've, ah, got some errands I need to run over the next few days. I could check on a couple shipments, but you could come for the ride if you wanted."

"Maybe." It would probably be more interesting than staying on Hosnian Prime the whole time.

Leia made a somewhat abrupt announcement. "I was thinking about having a party."

Ben raised his eyebrows, then smirked slightly. "I thought you said you're a Populist."

Han laughed appreciatively. Even Leia chortled, perhaps not so much by the joke itself as by Ben's effort to make a joke. "Not a political party. A birthday party, for you."

Ben stopped poking at his food and looked up in dismay. " _What?_ Why?"

Leia shrugged casually at the question. "It's been a long time since we celebrated your birthday with anyone other than family."

"Who else _would_ we celebrate it with?"

"Besides Chewie and Luke, I was thinking we could invite your classmates. Then there's Lando and Kaasha, my staff, some of my colleagues in the Senate, some of your father's mentees, and a few of our friends from the war."

With every name mentioned, Ben imagined the scene growing to become less and less tolerable. "No. No way. Absolutely not!"

Leia was not pleased with this response. She had not expected a ready agreement with her proposal, but she had not expected the opposition to be quite so vehement.

"Watch your tone, Ben," Han warned.

Ben rounded on his father. "You seriously support this idea?"

Han shrugged noncommittally. "It's not my favorite kind of thing, but I don't see why I shouldn't."

Ben glared at him, feeling betrayed. He knew how Han felt about politics and formal events, and Han knew how Ben felt about them.

When Ben was younger, his parents' friends and colleagues and other important people they associated with had patronized him, talking about how proud he must be, how lucky he was to have such fine parents, how bright his future was. Ben had heard more than one person say—some to his face, others to the general public—that he was a symbol, the personification of a new era, the archetype of the generation born and raised after the war's end.

Now that he was an adult, he got the feeling they were less interested in him as a person and more interested in how he could help them—as if he had any actual political significance or any influence on his mother's decisions. And although almost everyone said they expected him to be great like his relatives, he could never achieve anything as noteworthy as they had.

This thought made something click in Ben's mind. His birthday coincided with the anniversary of the war's end. This party would be an opportunity for his mother to get her colleagues to interact outside a political context. "Is this your idea for getting the factions together? Celebrating my birthday instead of the peace deal?"

"This isn't about celebrating the end of the war," Leia insisted. "It'll be a night to celebrate _you_ , all you've accomplished. Besides, you've been stuck with the same group of peers at school. This will be a chance to meet other people your age."

"Maybe meet some girls," Han said half-jokingly.

Those ideas were almost laughable. "You want to throw some coming out party for me? Introduce me to high society, like a debutante? Set me up with one of your interns?"

Leia pressed her lips together, deliberating a moment before she admitted, "I do want you to start thinking seriously about what you want to do with your life, and who you want to spend it with. Your father and I aren't going to be around forever."

"I don't need you to be!"

Silence fell after this declaration. The shock on all three humans' faces was accompanied by hurt on the parents' and angry defiance on the son's. Glaring, Ben pushed his chair back, stood and stormed out of the room.

"Ben! Get back here!" Han shouted, standing, but Leia grasped his wrist and held him back.

"Let him cool off."

"I don't care if he talks to me that way, but you—"

Leia hushed him and confided, "I think he really means the opposite."

Ben stomped through the apartment until he found C-3PO. "Threepio, is there a bedroom for me, or should I crash on the _Falcon_?"

Hearing this, Han shouted indignantly, "Hey, never use the word 'crash' in reference to the _Falcon_!"

Sometimes Ben truly believed his father cared more about that ship than about him.

He followed C-3PO to a guest room, where a bed had been set up along with various tools and spare parts Ben had collected years ago. It was a welcome sight, something to distract him for at least a few hours.

Technically, Jedi were not supposed to accumulate personal possessions. A Jedi's most valued item was his lightsaber, and anything else was considered shared or borrowed. But Luke had not been strict about enforcing that outside of the training temple, so Leia had allowed Ben to keep some of his personal effects at home. It really was her home, not his. He was only a guest passing through. But the Jedi school was not his home either. Perhaps home for the Skywalker-Solo family was more of an idea than a place, but Ben was not sure he had ever really experienced it.

For a while Ben sorted through the equipment, testing out tools and examining discarded items. He sensed his father's approach before hearing the footsteps and the knock at his door. Ben did not deign to answer, but Han opened the door and poked his head in anyway. "Hey," he said casually, as if there had been so argument or insult just an hour before. "What'cha working on?"

"Nothing really."

Han's eyes fell on one weapon that he recognized. "Is that Chewie's bowcaster?"

"No, but it's one he showed me how to construct." Ben picked up the Wookiee weapon and unfolded it. Though he had not used it in years, it looked to be in working order. Perhaps, over this vacation, he could find a place to test it out, see if his aim was alright without the aid of the Force.

"Can we talk?" Han asked.

"Do I have a choice?"

Han sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed. "Look, Ben. Your mom knows that you and I aren't exactly social butterflies, but stuff like this means something to her. Sometimes it means a lot. She's wanted to do something like this for a while."

"I'm sure she's wanted to try to make peace with the Centrists and Populists for a long time."

"That's not what this is about."

"It's not _not_ about that, though, is it?"

They stared at each other for a moment, Ben daring Han to contradict him. Han's shoulders sagged in reluctance. "It's an … added potential advantage," he admitted.

"I knew it."

"Ben … I don't want the three of us to be fighting the whole time we're together. You know your mom and I want you to be happy."

 _Do you?_ Ben wondered sarcastically.

"The thing is, we're not sure what _would_ make you happy."

 _That's obvious._

"Sometimes we're not even sure if you know. How you spend your vacation is just one example. What is it you want from us?"

Ben stopped tinkering, and turned to look at his father. "What did you say?"

"I asked what you want. Would you rather have stayed at the temple?"

"No."

"Then what?"

"I don't know." Ben's voice sounded defensive.

"Do you want to go back when the break is over?"

That question took Ben aback. "What—do I have a choice?"

"Luke thinks you still have a lot to learn, but you're not a kid anymore. You can decide where you want to live, what you want to do, who you want to be."

Ben could hardly believe he was hearing this. The idea that he could choose any of those things was completely new and almost unbelievable. All his life people had told him what he could be or should be. He had simultaneously fought and internalized these beliefs.

Han continued, "I talked to your mom just now, about the party, and I had an idea of my own. I want to offer a deal."

"Oh, great. Those usually work out well for you."

His sarcasm earned him a glare, though Han's lips curled into an involuntary smile as he realized Ben had a point. "If you do this—if you let your mom throw this party in your honor, show up and act nice—then when it's over you can have the _Falcon_ , and you can take it wherever you want to go. It doesn't have to be back to the temple."

Ben stared openly. The _Millennium Falcon_ was one thing he had thought his father would never part with. " _That's_ how much this party means to you?"

"That's how much your happiness means to us. If that would make you happy …"

Would it? Ben wondered, trying to imagine it. A ship of his own, and the freedom to go where he chose … to not have to endure his uncle's anxious berating or his classmates' fear … it was an almost frightening prospect, but the possibilities it presented all entailed relief.

"I … might consider it," Ben said.

Han smiled, satisfied with this answer. "Thanks. In the meantime, I've got an errand that you might enjoy."

"What kind of errand?"

"It's a favor to an old friend, Maz Kanata. She wants some discounted shipments to her castle on Takodana."

Those names were only vaguely familiar to Ben's ears. "Takodana … have I been there?"

Han seemed genuinely surprised. "Do you not remember? We used to go camping there when you were little." He looked forward again, part nostalgic, part crestfallen. "Chewie came with us. He caught and cooked some birds for us, and we went swimming in Nymeve Lake."

Now that he thought about it, Ben dimly remembered sitting on his father's knee in front of a campfire, Chewbacca telling stories in Shyriiwook, Han translating the parts Ben could not understand. He could not recall how old he had been at the time or what else had been happening in their lives. He supposed they must have been pretty happy, at that moment, in that period of their lives. Over the years Chewbacca had taught him how to speak Shyriiwook and survive in the wilderness, acting almost like another uncle to Ben.

"It was long time ago," Han conceded. "You may not remember it, but Maz will remember you. She likes Chewie and me. She's a bit of an acquired taste, so don't take what she says the wrong way. Whatever you do, don't stare."

"At what?"

Han waved his hands, as though to indicate something very general. "Any of it."

* * *

Author's Notes

You can skip this if you want, but if you're curious about my process and creative choices, read on.

As I post this first chapter, it has been exactly one year since I saw _The Last Jedi_ , which pulled me fully into Star Wars fandom and made me a wholehearted Reylo shipper. This is the first crossover I've written in years, and the first one I've done with Star Wars characters. The idea of this story came out of nowhere, took root and grew like a weed in my mind. I will be drawing inspiration from different versions of the story of _Swan Lake_ , of which there are many.

Although this is an alternate timeline, I will be using a lot of details from the canon, including material from the books. For instance, in this chapter there are allusions to _Bloodline_ by Claudia Gray (which I highly recommend), and _Last Shot_ by Daniel Jose Older (which I think is only worth reading because it shows Ben as a toddler).


	2. The Hunt

_Published February 11, 2019_

The Hunt

* * *

She knew how to hit to a hair's-breadth that moment of evening when the light and the darkness are so evenly balanced that the constraint of day and the suspense of night neutralize each other, leaving absolute mental liberty. It is then that the plight of being alive becomes attenuated to its least possible dimensions. ~ Thomas Hardy, _Tess of the D'Urbervilles_

* * *

Driving a nondescript cargo ship, wearing normal traveling clothes, Ben almost felt like a different person. He liked the normalcy of it, the anonymity he could enjoy outside of his family's shadows.

Of course such a pleasant change could not last long for him. The moment he entered her castle, Maz Kanata sensed him, fixed her goggles on him, and shouted his name over the din, elongating each syllable: "Ben Solo!"

The music and conversation stopped, and almost everyone in the cavernous room looked at Ben.

Clenching his fists at his sides, he bit back the curses that came to his mind and met the diminutive proprietor's gaze. "You must be Maz."

As she crossed the room to reach him, the patrons started to talk among themselves again, but Ben heard his name echo among them.

"Solo, did she say?"

"Han Solo?"

"No, his son."

"Son of Solo?"

So much for anonymity. Ben was already recognizable in his mother's world of politicians and his uncle's world of religion. With his luck, or lack thereof, he would become just as notorious in his father's world of trade and crime.

When Maz reached him she barked, "Where is my boyfriend?"

"Who?"

"The Wookiee, Chewbacca."

Ben held back a snort. "I don't know. I'm just here with your delivery."

Maz sniffed. "Why do you think I placed an order with your father?"

Ben shrugged. "Well, he asked me to do it, so I'm here. Do you want it unloaded or not?"

"Of course. But first, you look like you could use a meal."

Ben followed her with some reluctance. Food would be welcome, but he wanted to get away from the crowded palace sooner rather than later.

He hoped that Maz would leave him after getting his food, but instead she plopped down in a chair at his table and started talking. She wanted to hear about his family, but Ben knew no more than what could be learned from news holos and interplanetary gossip. As for his own training, there was no way he was going to open up to a stranger about that.

"Where are you going after you unload?" Maz asked.

"I don't know." He was not eager to go back to Hosnian Prime. Ben glanced at the window. "Maybe I'll just stay here a while."

"And do what?"

"Try to relax, I guess. Enjoy the scenery." Takodana was a peaceful planet—not quite as picturesque as Naboo, but the forest and lake were tranquil. It would be as good a place as any to clear his head and connect with the Force. He had also brought his old bowcaster with the idea of practicing his aim. Maybe he could find some targets in the forest.

Unloading Maz's shipment did not take long, since Ben used the Force to make it easier to move the crates. When he got the bowcaster from his cargo ship, the sun was starting to dip behind the line of trees.

He took some practice shots to make sure it was still working and that he could fire it properly. When he had built it, he had not been strong enough to shoot it. Chewbacca had said that required the strength of a Wookiee, though Han had challenged him on that point. Ben was rather satisfied when he shot the laser bolts into the trees without trouble.

With no real destination in mind, Ben walked around the lake's perimeter, looking and listening. He sensed through the Force that Takodana was full of life, though much of it was hidden from his eyes. The trees provided shelter, but also carried a sense of potential danger.

He had been walking for about ten minutes before he spotted some small animals interacting with each other on the opposite side of Nymeve Lake. From the movement it seemed to be some kind of bird. As he made his way around the lake's shoreline, he recognized the species: they were porgs, a semi-aquatic type of bird.

Not a bad quarry, Ben thought as he took aim.

The second before he pulled the trigger, one of the porgs looked directly at him and gave a squawk that Ben could have sworn was a warning. The other porgs were already scattering when the bolt hit the water's surface, missing its target. Some took to the water while others waddled along the shoreline and a leapt for short bursts of flight. One of them, the one who had warned the others, crossed the beach, flew up to a tree, and seemed to disappear into the trunk.

Ben quickened his pace, jogging to reach the other side of the lake. He was about fifty meters away when the porg's head appeared, and he realized it had taken shelter in a hole in the trunk. It was holding something shiny in its mouth. Ben slowed as he recognized the oblong shape.

It was a lightsaber.

"What the kriff?" Ben mouthed the words but did not make a sound. He recognized the weapon for what it was, but it did not look like any he had seen before.

The porg watched him with wide, knowing, fearful eyes. Ben only looked at it for a moment before he raised his bowcaster again, taking aim at the small creature. Again, the porg reacted before he pulled the trigger, leaping from the trunk and half flying, half jumping to the low limb of another tree.

As it tried to get away, Ben started to run toward it. "Come back with that!"

The porg did the exact opposite, flying further into the forest. It was darker under the tree canopy, which blocked both the fading sunlight and the coming moonlight. With its head start and high vantage points, Ben was just barely able to keep the porg in his sight. It was quite determined—not just desperate, as a hunted animal would normally be, but almost intelligent.

Ben slowed his pace so he could move more quietly and focus more on his surroundings. He reached out with the Force, and sensed the porg there, hiding among the darkness and the foliage, alive, trembling, afraid. Ben was surprised at how strong and discernible its emotions were—they felt more like the thoughts and emotions of a human than an animal.

A voice from somewhere in his subconscious seemed to urge him, _Get on with it. Kill it._ That was what he had come to the forest to do. And more importantly, that lightsaber must belong to someone, and as a Jedi student it was his responsibility to find out who its owner was.

He aimed the bowcaster where he knew the porg was, and fired.

He heard the porg cry out in pain, and there was a sound like something small falling onto the ground, but then there were other sounds, like something larger getting to its feet and running away. Ben went toward the sound, accelerating as whatever he chased seemed to. He was no longer sure if it was the porg.

The terrain in this part of the forest rose and fell in hills, cliffs and outcroppings. An animal or person could hide behind them, sneak up on someone. Ben paused with his back against a wall of stone and dirt, listening once again. He sensed his quarry not too far away, in pain but not in mortal danger. He must have merely wounded the porg.

Then he heard something new: a mechanical kind of whirring. Ben tensed, becoming wary. He had little fear of animals or darkness, but ever since he was a small child he had possessed a strange aversion to droids.

Suddenly a spherical orange and white astromech droid rolled out from behind a bend. Ben frowned at it in surprise. "Where'd you come from?"

The droid beeped a strange response, which made Ben wonder if its parts were out of whack. "'Rey human bleeding arm'?" he repeated uncomprehendingly.

The droid beeped again, insisting that he follow it.

"I don't have time—I'm looking for a—" Ben suddenly felt foolish. "I was chasing a porg. It was carrying something valuable, a lightsaber."

The droid made a gesture like a nod. _I can show you both_.

"Really?" Ben looked at it dubiously. Apparently done trying to convince him, the droid turned on its sphere and started to roll away quickly. Not sure what else to do at this point, Ben followed it around the bend and a short distance away.

 _I found help,_ the droid chirped as they approached a rather thick-trunked tree. It rolled around to the other side, and Ben followed, then stopped short at what he saw.

There was a person curled up at the base of the tree: a female human, with pale skin and dark hair pulled back. Her clothes were sand-colored and only slightly better than rags. Rudimentary arm-wraps covered her arms, but her left arm was bleeding through the dirty fabric. This injured arm cradled the lightsaber against her chest, while her other arm held the injured one.

Seeing Ben, she got to her feet, her eyes filled with both fear and anger.

"What—him? He's the one who did this!" the girl raged at the droid.

"Who are you?" Ben asked.

"I could ask you the same," she groused. "Did he send you here to kill me? Did he decide I'm a threat after all?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. Where's the—how did you get that?" Ben pointed to the lightsaber.

"Why do you care?"

Ben unhooked his own lightsaber from his belt and held it out for her to see. "I'm a Jedi padawan." The girl's hostility faded somewhat, replaced by surprise and uncertainty. "I know lightsabers, and I thought I knew every person in the galaxy who owns one. Except you."

The girl stared at him, still guarded but also uncertain.

Ben moved slowly, crouching and placing his bowcaster and lightsaber on the ground. Then he stood and approached the girl. "Look, I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to talk."

"You stay right where you are."

"Don't be afraid," he said. He meant for it to sound soothing, but it came out sounding like an instruction.

"That happens when you're being hunted," she deadpanned. That was the first hint of an explanation.

"Were you running away from someone?" Ben asked.

"Yes— _you_." Her words seethed with anger, but also irritation, as though he were missing something obvious.

He looked at her, nonplussed. "I was shooting a porg a few minutes ago," he admitted. That was the only thing she could be referring to.

"I know."

"Did you think I was chasing you?"

"Yes, because you were. I was the porg you were chasing. You grazed my wing." She held up her bleeding arm.

Ben wondered if this girl was insane, or if he was going insane. "How is that possible?"

She seemed to sag a little, suddenly seeming tired and sorrowful. "It's a long story."

"Okay. How about we start with this: Who _are_ you?"

"No one."

"That's really helpful." Ben glanced at the BB unit. "That droid called you 'Rey.' Is that your name?"

"Yeah."

"My name is Ben."

"I would say 'It's nice to meet you,' but honestly …"

Ben fought back a smile at that. He looked at her wound again. "Is your arm badly hurt?"

She paused, assessing it herself. "I don't think so. It's bleeding but not broken."

"You need to get that bandaged, probably put some bacta on it."

"Yeah. I need to get to Maz's castle. You've already made me late."

The ordinariness of that statement struck Ben as being out of place in such a bizarre situation. "Do you want help?"

"I can manage." She walked past him, not taking her eyes off him, as though she expected him to attack her at any moment. She still held the lightsaber against her chest, as though protecting it, or hoping it would protect her. The droid followed her, and after a moment Ben picked up his weapons and started to walk after them. Hearing his footsteps, Rey turned around to glare at him again. "Still following me?"

"Not exactly. My ship is near the castle, and there's nothing left for me to do out here, so I might as well go back."

Rey did not buy this explanation, but she did not protest as he followed her.

By now most of Maz's guests had left or gone to their rented rooms, but she was still serving food and drinks to a handful of patrons in the lounge and dining area. When she caught sight of Rey she barked, "You're late."

"You can thank him for that." Rey jerked her head toward Ben.

Maz set her eyes on him. "Ben. Did you hurt my mechanic?"

"I'm not sure. She says I did, but I wasn't aware of it."

"Sometimes we can hurt others without realizing it." Maz gestured for Rey to follow her. "Come on, child. Let's get you cleaned up."

Ben waited in the lounge while Rey and Maz went into a back room. The astromech droid rolled up near him but did not say anything. When the females came back, Rey's injured arm had been wrapped in bacta patches and clean fabric. The lightsaber hung from a belt at her waist. Maz was giving her instructions. "The dishwasher droid needs oil, and—"

Ben interrupted, holding up a hand. "Maz, wait." He turned to Rey. "Can I get something for you?"

She looked at him blankly. "What?"

"Something to drink, or to eat if you're hungry."

"You're offering?"

"Yes." Why was that so hard for her to understand? If she was telling the truth, maybe she had the intelligence of a porg, or maybe the transformation had dulled her comprehension skills.

"What do you want in return?" Rey pressed.

"Nothing. Well, you could answer my questions, but I hoped you'd do that as a courtesy. Anyway, if what you say is true, I owe you." Ben sat down at an empty table and pulled out another chair for Rey, gesturing for her to sit. She regarded him for a moment, then slowly came over and sat in the offered chair.

Ben bought himself a drink, figuring he needed it at this point. When her food arrived, Rey tore into it ravenously. Ben watched with a mixture of pity and disdain. She certainly ate like an animal.

When she was almost done with her meal, he tried to talk to her once more. "Now, would you care to explain how you were a porg when I first saw you, and human now?"

She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "Not really. Why should I?"

"You show up in the middle of the woods with a lightsaber and tell me you turned from a porg into a human, and think you don't need to explain anything?"

"Keep your voice down!" Rey hissed. She glanced around the room with that mixture of fear and irritation.

Ben lowered his voice but continued to argue. "If there are other people like that, it would be good to know. Now I'll always wonder if an animal is really a person in disguise."

Rey paused, frowning. "I think I'm the only one … but I don't know for sure. It might've happened to other people."

" _What_ might have happened?"

Instead of answering, Rey seemed to deliberate. Then she looked to the small pirate passing by. "Maz, do you know this man?"

"Of course I do. He's my delivery boy."

Ben was not sure whether he felt amused or insulted by such a mundane introduction. He waited for Maz to add that he came from good people, that his parents were war heroes, or at least that his father was an old friend, but she said nothing about his family.

"Oh. Well, can he be trusted?" Rey asked.

"Hm." Maz adjusted her goggles, adding more magnifying lenses in front of her eyes, and peered at Ben, who suddenly felt distinctly uncomfortable, as though she were looking into his soul.

"What?" he demanded.

"If you live long enough, you start to see the same eyes in different people," Maz said sagely. She turned to Rey and informed her, "I see the same eyes in both of you."

Rey and Ben both looked at her, and then at each other, surprised and unsettled by this comparison. Maz shrugged and continued on her way, leaving them to their own devices.

"Well?" Ben said.

Rey folded her arms, still thinking it over. Finally she said, "I'll tell you the truth. I'm not comfortable talking in here, though." She glanced at the counter where Maz was serving drinks to her late-night patrons. "I'll ask Maz to let me take the night off. We can talk by the lake."

Ben thought this strange. Most women who were afraid of being bothered by men would want to stay in a public area. Before he could ask, Rey added another condition, eyeing the bowcaster: "And you'll leave that thing behind."

"Fine."

The astromech droid followed them when they left the castle. "Is that droid yours?" Ben asked.

"Not exactly," Rey said. "Its owner sometimes stays overnight at the castle, and it doesn't like to power down at night like a good droid."

The droid followed them when they left the castle. They stopped by Ben's parked ship, where he left the bowcaster. Then they started down the path to Nymeve Lake.

After walking in silence for a few minutes, Ben asked, "What do you think Maz sees in our eyes?"

"I don't know," Rey said shortly.

"You seem to know her pretty well. You must have—"

"I said I don't know," Rey insisted.

"Alright, alright."

They walked back to the shoreline where the porgs had been playing earlier, near the tree with the hollow. Rey went over to it and retrieved a folded blanket from the hollow. She wrapped it around herself before sitting down on the sand.

Ben sat next to her and waited. He was about to speak when she suddenly said, "Before you start interrogating me, I have one question for you: _Why_ would you hunt porgs?"

"You had a lightsaber."

"You were hunting us before you saw that. Why?"

Ben shrugged, knowing his answer would not satisfy her. "Target practice."

"But porgs are defenseless! They can barely fly, and they don't have sharp teeth or beaks or claws. They can be annoying, but they never hurt anyone."

"Alright, look, I don't have strong feelings about porgs one way or the other. Now, tell me why you claim to have been one."

The droid rolled up next to Rey, then bumped gently into her, as though to give her a nudge, beeping something supportive. Rey looked at it and seemed to soften. "It all started because of BB-8. He got separated from his owner on Jakku. I saved him from some junk traders who wanted him for parts."

"Jakku? Is that where you're from?" Ben had not been there, at least not as far as he could remember, but he knew of its importance in the history of the Galactic Civil War. It was often mentioned in relation to his birthday. But from what he had heard, it was not a hospitable place to live.

A beat passed before Rey answered, "Yes."

"What do you do there?"

"I'm a scavenger. BB-8 said I could trade better on Takodana, so I came here with him." She glanced over at the castle. "I found the lightsaber in a box in Maz's cellar—I can't explain why I went down, somehow it just … it called to me. When I touched it … I saw visions—some I recognized, things I'd experienced, but also people and places I'd never seen. I don't know if they were from my future, or someone else's past."

"What were they?" Ben asked, fascinated.

"It doesn't matter," Rey answered shortly. This only piqued Ben's curiosity more, but she continued before he could decide whether to press her. "When they were over, Maz found me. I thought she'd be angry with me for snooping in her things, but she seemed … excited, almost. She said the lightsaber had belonged to Luke Skywalker, the Jedi knight."

Ben gaped at her, increasingly perplexed. Rey did not notice. She smiled slightly. "I'd heard stories about him, but I thought he was a myth." Ben wondered if he should tell Rey of his relation to the Skywalkers, but she went on with her narrative. "Maz told me I should take the lightsaber, learn to use it, and become a Jedi knight so I could defeat the First Order. I'd never even heard of them. Have you?"

"I think I've heard the name." In fact, Ben had heard his mother mention them while complaining about the ineffectiveness of the Galactic Senate. "Aren't they a bunch of Empire loyalists?"

"Something like that. Maz thinks they're the new form of evil coming to power, like the Sith and the Empire."

Ben raised his eyebrows. Rey saw his skepticism and nodded. "I thought she was crazy. I might have liked something … some bigger kind of destiny, but I'm not a hero. I left the lightsaber and ran away, to the forest. I was getting ready to leave when …" Rey stopped, and she drew breath with difficulty. "He came after me."

"Who?"

"I don't know his name. All I know is … well, I don't know much about the Dark Side, but whatever its is, he's made of it. I think he's some kind of sorcerer. Someone in the castle tipped him off about what had happened with the lightsaber."

"What did he do?"

"He found me in the forest. He froze me, somehow. I couldn't move. He …" Rey struggled to continue. "He seemed to … I felt him, in my mind. I think he read my thoughts. And other things about me … I can't explain—"

"You don't have to," Ben said, almost reassuring. "I think I know what you mean."

Rey drew her knees to her chest and pulled her blanket closer around herself. "I'd never been so afraid in my life."

"What happened then?"

"He seemed to think the same thing as Maz, that I have a strong connection to the Force. But he does too. He wasn't sure if my powers meant I'd be a threat or an asset to him. He decided to leave me alone, for now, in case I could be useful someday. But he wanted to make sure my powers would be limited and I wouldn't be able to learn about the Force. So he …"

"… turned you into a porg," Ben finished, finally understanding.

Rey nodded, blinking hard, seeming to fight back tears. For a few moments she was silent, lost in the memory. When she spoke, her voice was quiet. "Did you know that animals don't cry? They might express grief in other ways, but they don't shed tears. I found that out the hard way."

Ben could only stare, as he had for the better part of an hour. His incredulity had given way to something else. He thought it might be pity, but it was more personal than that. Though he had never experienced anything as bizarre as what Rey described, something about her story and her situation resonated with him. He knew how it felt to be alone, even when there were other people around. He knew what it was like to want greatness and at the same time want to run away from a legacy.

"Maz found me and gave me the lightsaber." Rey looked down and turned the weapon over in her hands. "She's not a Jedi, but she knows about the Force. She did something to the saber, so now it works kind of like a talisman. It lets me turn back into a human at night, and it keeps the sorcerer from getting too close. I'm sure he's still watching me, though. Sometimes I think I can still feel him in my head."

That was a feeling Ben understood all too well. For as long as he could remember, he had sensed, or perhaps, as his parents supposed, merely imagined, some dark, invisible presence watching over him.

Apologies did not come easily to Ben. He was frequently told to give one, but rarely felt he owed one. Now, however, he realized it was the right thing to do.

"I'm sorry for chasing and shooting you." He paused, waiting for Rey to accept his apology, but she did not answer. He tried again. "Is there any way I can make up for it?"

She looked at him in surprise. Then her expression softened. "No … but thank you."

"There must be a way to break the curse."

"I think so too. But I don't know what it is, or how to find out."

"Do you have any idea how to use the lightsaber?" Ben suspected she did not, since she had not attacked him with it.

Rey shrugged one shoulder. "I've been trying to teach myself. I know how to fight with a quarterstaff, so I kind of translated those techniques to the lightsaber."

"And you work for Maz now? But you're living in the forest?"

"Maz has a strict policy for people who need sanctuary. She gives them food and a room for free the first night, but after that you have to pay a lot. She let me stay for one planetary rotation. Since then I've been sleeping in the woods. I've been trying to sleep during the day, when I'm a porg, and work at night. I do odd jobs in exchange for food. Maz is much kinder than my boss on Jakku. But it's kind of lonely being nocturnal." She looked up at the moon overhead, becoming wistful. "Growing up on a desert planet, I never thought I would miss the sun. But now I miss feeling it on my skin. Whenever the sun is out I'm covered in feathers, so I can't feel it the same way."

Ben wished he had something helpful to say. He had no idea how to comfort or encourage someone. No one had ever been very good at doing that for him. But Rey's words about the sun reminded him of something he had heard in the past.

"My mother …" He stopped, and Rey looked at him questioningly. He swallowed, self-conscious. "There's something she says … I don't know if I believe it, but she says her mother used to say, 'Hope is like the sun. If you only believe in it when you can see it, you won't make it through the night.'"

Rey's expression became thoughtful. "I think that makes sense. On Jakku, sometimes there were sandstorms, and I had to stay indoors for days, waiting for them to end. But I had to hope they would end. Otherwise they would have been unbearable."

They both fell silent after this philosophical exchange. For the first time, Ben noticed the stillness of Takodana at night. It was still full of life, but most of it was asleep now, resting, though what was awake was full of energy.

And here he was, sitting with a pretty girl by a lake under a moonlit sky. He almost choked when it occurred to him what a fuss his parents or classmates would have made if they knew where he was, who he was with, the story he had just heard and was willing to believe.

He did not know how long they stayed outside, but after some time, BB-8 interjected an observation and a warning.

"What? Is it that close already?" Rey asked in dismay. "I know nights on Takodana are short, but it feels like the night just began."

Ben looked at the sky, and realized that it was lighter on one side than on the other. The dawn was approaching. "I'm sorry I took up so much of your time."

"It's alright." Rey paused. "It was actually kind of nice talking about this. You're the only person to find out since it happened."

"Thank you for telling me." Ben hesitated, glancing at the sky, the castle, and his ship before looking at her once more. "Can I see you again?"

She blinked at him, uncertain. "Why?"

"I …" He did not want to say too much, to make offers or promises he could not keep, or inspire hope for things that would not happen. What he said finally was, "I might be able to help you. I just need to think about how."

Rey looked at him for a moment. "Alright," she said, deciding again to trust him.

"Thank you. I'll come back tomorrow." Ben paused and said, "It was good to meet you, Rey."

"Really?" She raised her eyebrows at him.

"Truly."

"I wish I could say the same."

Ben looked at her, a little hurt and ready to be annoyed at her unforgiveness. Then Rey's expression melted into a smile, and he realized she was teasing. He smiled back, for the first time that night, perhaps the first time since the vacation started.

They stood up together, and Rey headed over to the tree with the hollow. She put her blanket and the lightsaber there, and then took a few steps into the forest. Ben watched from the shore.

As the sun rose over the tree line, pouring the first rays of light onto the planet, Rey seemed to shimmer and morph, shrinking in size, finally stopping when she was about a foot tall and half as wide, with wings and webbed feet and feathers the same colors as her clothes and skin and hair.

She was a porg again. Which meant her story was true.

Ben blew out a puff of air, running a hand through his hair. BB-8 noticed and beeped a remark. Ben smiled involuntarily, amused, for the first time, by how crazy it all was. "This is going to take some getting used to," he murmured. Then he turned and headed back to his ship.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Ben's aversion to droids is because of an incident in _Last Shot_ by Daniel Jose Older.


	3. A Teacher

_Published March 5, 2019_

A Teacher

* * *

The student is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher. ~ Luke 6:40, New International Version

* * *

After checking the Holonet, Ben sent a hologram to his parents to let them know he was going to stay on Takodana for another day and night. He did not see the point in going back to Hosnian Prime only to return the following night. Han and Leia probably would not be pleased, but there was little they could do about it.

Ben set up some mats to serve as a bed on the floor of the cargo ship, resolving to sleep for as long as he could during the day. He wanted to catch up on his rest after spending the previous night awake, and prepare himself to do the same tonight. But Ben could not sleep soundly after such an astonishing discovery.

Eventually, hunger convinced him to get up sometime in the afternoon. After a meal improvised from the cargo ship's small store, Ben tried to occupy himself in the remaining hours of the day, reading, meditating, practicing calligraphy, drilling lightsaber forms. The problem was that he could not focus on anything. He was only waiting to see Rey again.

He had to know if what had happened the previous night was real, and if so, what could be done about it.

He had hurt Rey and wanted to make up for that, it was true, but he also sensed something bigger going on, perhaps hidden to him or even to her. The Force was at work in and around her. For some as yet unknown reason, it had drawn her to the Skywalker legacy saber. That had to mean something. Maz Kanada and the sorcerer, or whatever he was, both seemed to think this meant she had some role to play in a larger story. But by all accounts, including her own, she was nobody important, just a scavenger.

Ben wanted to do something to help her. It was a new feeling for him. He had always been a bit sensitive, able to read people's emotions—Luke said that had to do with the Force—but it was not often that he felt empathy for others. Yet there was something about her … something he could not quite identify. Part of him pitied her for being in such a miserable situation. But what he felt was more personal than pity or sympathy. Maybe it was compassion. Whatever the reason, Ben could not be at peace just leaving her in her situation.

There might be something to be gained from consulting his uncle. Luke Skywalker knew more about the Force than anyone else now living, having spent the past quarter of a century seeking knowledge about it. If the sorcerer who cursed Rey had used the Force, Luke might be able to help her learn how to break the curse.

Ben also needed to figure out how he would explain the situation to his family. He could just imagine their reactions if he began by saying he had met a girl: his mother's premature excitement, his father's amusement and teasing, his uncle's suspicion and stern warnings. The thought made him cringe.

Ben decided to find out two things before he told anyone about her. First was whether it had really happened, whether she was real. He needed to confirm that he was not crazy before he got anyone else involved. Second, it was probably best to ask Rey what kind of help she wanted and was willing to accept.

He had not told her about his family, and now he wondered whether he should. Ben did not want to get Rey's hopes up and risk disappointing her. She had talked about Luke as though he were a legend—he must have seemed like one to her. Ben knew too well that the people in his family did not live up to the legends that had developed about them.

Rey had been defensive and mistrustful due to the violent circumstances of their meeting, but she knew nothing about Ben personally. She had no expectations for him, for good or for ill. That could be refreshing. So he made up his mind to put off telling her about his parents as long as he could.

Ben waited until about an hour after nightfall before he went back to Maz's castle. Maz took one look at him and barked, "You're still here."

"That's right," Ben said evenly.

"Are you staying because something is keeping you here, or because something else is keeping you away from elsewhere?"

Ben grunted. "Both, I guess." He would have welcomed any kind of distraction, any excuse to not go home right away.

Ben ordered two drinks and enough food for two people. He was just sitting down when some instinct told him to turn around. He looked at the corridor leading further into the castle, and saw Rey enter the cantina.

When she saw Ben, her face seemed to light up with recognition and surprise, but not of an unpleasant kind. He stood up as she approached him. She stopped in front of him, and for a moment they just looked at each other.

"You came," she said.

"I said I would, didn't I?"

"Yeah, but …" She stopped midsentence. She seemed to be holding some emotion at bay, though Ben was not sure what. Then she looked at the two table settings, and something in her expression shifted. "Are you expecting someone else?"

"No. One is for you. If you want it."

Rey considered him, and the food, and then said, "Give me a minute." She went behind the counter and talked to Maz, who looked at Ben with those big, knowing eyes. Finally she waved a hand, apparently dismissing Rey, who returned to the table and sat next to Ben. He slid one plate and drink in front of her.

"Is this still to make up for shooting me?" she asked, already helping herself to a fruit.

"Something like that." Ben glanced at her arm-wraps and saw that her wound had a fresh bandage. "How is your arm?"

"It's alright." She flexed her hand, rotating her arm to show him.

Ben regarded her softly. "I wondered if I'd dreamed the whole thing."

Rey smiled in a way that might have been shy. "So did I, the first few days, until I changed back and forth a few times."

"I'm glad it wasn't a dream."

She looked at him oddly. "You are?"

Realizing that could be interpreted a few ways, Ben tried to justify himself. "It means I'm not going insane."

That made Rey laugh a little. The sound filled Ben with a warm feeling, which he guessed must be relief. If she was laughing, she must have been feeling well and decided not to hold a grudge against him.

Ben noticed again how ravenously Rey ate. Thinking back on her behavior and their conversation yesterday, he could better understand why. Rey had grown up on Jakku, a desert planet where food and water were scarce. She was probably used to being hungry and in the habit of accepting whatever food she could. He felt somewhat ashamed for judging her the day before.

"When we're done here," Ben said, "could we go for a walk? I have some questions, and maybe some suggestions."

Rey swallowed a mouthful of food and nodded. "Alright. But since I told you my story, I want to hear yours."

"Mine? It's … not really that interesting."

"You said you're a Jedi padawan. That's pretty interesting to me."

Ben thought carefully and spoke nothing but the truth. "I grew up on Chandrila, but my family is from … a few different planets, actually. My mother is a politician. My father runs a shipping company—that's why I came here, to drop off a delivery for Maz. They both fought in the rebellion. They sent me to train with other Jedi wannabes. We're on a vacation now."

"What's that?"

"What—a vacation?" Ben tried not to smile. "It's … a break from your usual routine. Ours is about two weeks long." He did not add that he was trying to decide whether or not to go back when it was over.

When they left the castle and started walking to the lake, Ben brought up the subject he really wanted to talk about. "I've been thinking. You said you're a porg during the day and a human at night."

"That's right."

"But the whole time that's been happening, you've been here on Takodana?"

"Yes."

"Do you think the change is tied to the rotation of this particular planet, or to whatever planet you happen to be on?"

At this, Rey's frown became thoughtful. "I don't know. I haven't tried to leave."

"Do you want to?" Ben tried to sound casual, just idly curious.

She shrugged. "I don't know where I would go. Maybe if I had my own ship, or a job working on one."

That reminded Ben of something. "Maz said you're a mechanic. Are you good with ships?"

Rey laughed at the question. "Am I … well, I've never flown one, but I know all about how they work. Jakku is a starship graveyard, and I had to go looking in wrecked ships for parts to sell. I had to learn how things work so I could fix them. Once, I even found a flight simulator game, so I taught myself how to pilot a ship, even though I couldn't actually fly one."

Ben tucked that information away, thinking it might be useful someday. His father's company could always use more pilots. Returning to more pressing matters, he asked, "Have you ever used the Force before? Like, did you ever make things happen—sense something before it happened, or make objects move without touching them?" He remembered when he was angry as a child, before he started his training, he had sometimes caused machines to malfunction or made objects float or fall around him. It was episodes like those that made his parents worry so much and eventually decide to send him to the training temple, hoping Luke could help him control his powers.

Rey's brow furrowed as she thought about this, but then she shook her head definitively. "No. I would have remembered."

"You don't think you tapped into the Force at all before you found the lightsaber?"

"Yes."

By now they had reached the other side of the lake, almost out of sight from the castle. Ben stopped walking and turned to face Rey. "Are you even sure you can use it? Could Maz and this sorcerer have been mistaken?"

"Well …" Rey shifted a little. "I've been trying to use it on my own. One time, one of the porgs took the lightsaber and ran off with it. I used the Force to stop him in mid-air and pull him to me."

She glanced at the forest, and then walked up to the line of trees. Ben followed her to a small pile of rocks, apparently left in an arrangement. Rey knelt in front of it and extended her hand. Ben watched, knowing what she was trying to do, wondering if it would be easy or difficult for her.

It took a moment, but as Rey concentrated, the rock at the top of the pile rose slowly into the air. She moved her hand to the right, and it followed before she released it gently onto the ground.

That was something, Ben thought. She had enough power, and enough control over it, for telekinesis. Perhaps the Force had helped her in other ways without her realizing it—led her to shipwrecks with good parts, helped her know intuitively how to fix things, enabled her to survive among other desperate scavengers. But that still did not explain why Maz and the sorcerer believed her to be such a threat to the evil in the galaxy.

Suddenly he realized Rey did not have the Skywalker lightsaber with her. He glanced left and right, and thought he recognized the tree with the hollow where she had stashed her belongings. He stepped backwards onto the beach and reached out toward the tree, trying to sense what he could not see. He thought of his grandfather, Anakin Skywalker, a Jedi Knight and a general in the Clone Wars, and imagined him constructing the saber. Ben thought he could feel the kyber crystal inside. He saw light glinting off metal in the tree hollow, and then the saber came rushing out—but it missed him by a few feet, and Ben turned in surprise to see it land in Rey's outstretched hand. She looked surprised, apprehensive, and more than a little hurt. Ben just stared at her, awed, until she held up the lightsaber in both hands and ignited it. The plasma blade was a light blue.

"Did you come here to try to take this again?" Rey asked.

"No, I just—I had to see."

"See what? That I know how to use it?"

"Well, if you're offering …" Ben drew his own light saber from his belt. Rey's eyes widened as he ignited it. He twirled his wrist, making two opposing circles with his saber. Rey tried to imitate the motion.

Ben had sparred with the other padawans and even, on a few occasions, with Luke, but never with someone with so little training. That being said, Rey did not fight like a complete amateur. She was a bit clumsy, lacking the finesse of a trained Jedi, but she managed to block Ben's attacks, and even pressed back, going on the offensive and forcing him to retreat slightly on the beach.

"Physically, you're a lot stronger than you look," Ben said, panting slightly.

Rey's brow crinkled, but her lips formed a smile, parting slightly to show her teeth. "Thanks … I think." She was rather proud of herself. And well she should be, holding her own against Anakin Skywalker's grandson. If only she knew.

Part of Ben wanted to put her back in her place, show that he was still the superior. So he charged again, but Rey ran around him and forced him to pivot and defend himself against her attack. Ben was going as easy on her as he could, trying to tame instead of hunt, but she kept reversing the dynamic, keeping him on his toes—until, in a sudden burst of determination, she pushed her hand out and sent him flying backwards into the air, his lightsaber slipping from his hand.

Ben fell on his back near the lakeshore and barely avoided falling into the water. The blow knocked the wind out of him, and he lay there for a moment, shocked, reeling, impressed, and mystified. He sat up slowly, propping himself up on his elbows, and saw Rey standing near his feet, looking remarkably formidable for a scrawny slip of a girl. She turned off the Skywalker lightsaber and tilted her head with a kind of wary concern. "Are you all right?"

"I don't understand it," Ben said, getting to his feet. He summoned his lightsaber back to his hand, returned it to his belt in a huff, and turned to face Rey directly. "How could you be so strong in the Force and not know?" He found the whole situation increasingly strange and even unsettling. Why did the lightsaber call to Rey and not him? If she was as powerful as Maz and the sorcerer said, why did her power lie dormant inside her all her life, not manifesting itself the way Ben's had throughout his childhood? Was there something wrong with him?

Rey must have felt that way when she first tapped into it—as though she were a freak. No wonder she had felt frightened and tried to run away.

She broke his gaze and looked down, as reflective and troubled as he felt. "Something inside me has always been there," she said quietly, trying to find the right words to explain. "But now it's awake. And I'm afraid. I don't know what it is, or what to do with it." Her voice was little more than a whisper now, almost breaking as she confessed, "And I need help."

Ben supposed he ought to ask Luke to take on Rey as a student, and invite Rey to train under Luke … but something inside him resisted this idea. If Luke feared Ben's raw, unpredictable power, he was bound to suspect Rey's even more. On the other hand, he could imagine his family doting over Rey, who was simultaneously fierce and fragile, too experienced and too innocent, with a hard shell but a soft heart—like the war heroes in their younger years. Ben could see it already: they would get along with Rey much more easily than they did with him. His mother had always wanted a daughter …

Brushing aside that train of thought, Ben considered another alternative: What if he taught Rey himself? He did not fear her power the way Luke surely would. And it was unlikely that Luke would ever give him a position of leadership or even mentorship. This way, Ben could try his hand at teaching, help her reach the same level of mastery someone her age should have, and not have to share a master's attention with a student more gifted than he.

"You need a teacher," Ben said. "I could show you the ways of the Force."

Rey looked at him skeptically. "You? I just beat you."

"In a little sparring match. I wasn't trying to kill you."

She stuck out her chin. "I've fought off people who wanted to kill me before."

"What if the sorcerer comes back—would you have been able to do that to him?"

At the mention of the sorcerer, Rey grew still and seemed a shade paler in the moonlight. She seemed to deliberate for a moment, then looked back at Ben. "What would you want in return?"

There she went again, wondering about prices, exchanges, and debts. "Nothing."

"I don't believe you."

"Why not?"

"Why would you bother to teach me without getting anything in return?"

It was a fair question. Ben was not even sure he had a satisfactory answer. But suddenly one poured out of him, gaining strength as it came. "My grandfather was a Jedi master. From what I've heard, he was one of the most powerful in the whole Jedi Order. He had two children, my mother and my uncle, but he didn't raise them, so they didn't know they had any kind of power until they were almost grown—maybe around your age. My uncle decided to learn as much as he could about the Jedi and how they used the Force, but my mother didn't—she was too busy rebuilding the political sphere after the war. And my father … he just doesn't understand it. He didn't even believe in the Force before he met my mom and uncle. So neither of my parents were able to help me when my powers started to manifest."

He looked sideways at Rey, whose face had softened with empathy as she listened to him. "I guess … I see myself in you. At least to a certain extent. I may not turn into an animal," he said with a wry smile, which Rey returned, "but I know what it's like to have more power than you know what to do with. I can get you caught up to the level the other padawans are now. There are about a dozen of us living at a training temple. When our vacation is over, I could take you there. You know who runs it?"

"Luke." Rey's eyes were full of wonder and the most tentative kind of hope, the kind that is afraid to grow.

Ben nodded, and then extended a hand toward her, inviting an agreement. "What do you say?"

She regarded him, her eyes shifting from his face to his hand and back. Then she slowly lifted her hand and placed it in his, allowing Ben to close his fingers around it.

Something like an electric shock seemed to pass through both of them—first a jolt, then a kind of warmth spreading from their hands to the rest of their bodies. Their eyes met as they shook and then released each other's hand.

Ben had never felt anything like this—like simultaneously wanting to be closer and farther away. He could sense, somehow, that Rey felt the same way, like there was something dangerous but also enticing about what they had just done, what they were agreeing to do.

He cleared his throat and gestured to the ground, inviting her to sit. "Shall we begin?"

* * *

Author's Notes

Disclaimers: Rey's backstory of finding a flight simulation game is from the book _Before the Awakening_ by Greg Rucka. The event Rey describes, when the porgs took her lightsaber, is based on the _Star Wars: Forces of Destiny_ short "Porg Problems."

I thank guest reviewers Dream Plane and El Droide for their kind reviews! I especially appreciate El Droide giving this story a chance—if you have any knowledge or insights about the story from your ballet training, I'd love to talk with you about it! To answer the common question about which version of _Swan Lake_ this is based on, I'm not sticking to one particular adaptation, since there are so many that all tell the story differently. I drew on the 2003 film _Barbie of Swan Lake_ for Rey's backstory because the characters and situations matched up so well—that was the main thing that inspired this project.

I'm posting this on Mardi Gras because I usually take a hiatus from posting fan fiction during Lent, which this year is March 6 until April 21. After Easter I'll try to resume updating every month or so.


	4. Padawans

_Published May 9, 2019_

"Padawans"

* * *

First comes the day  
Then comes the night.  
After the darkness  
Shines through the light.  
The difference, they say,  
Is only made right  
By the resolving of gray  
Through refined Jedi sight.

~ _Journal of the Whills_ , 7:477  
Alan Dean Foster, _The Force Awakens_

* * *

Rey's first lesson was more of a conversation. Ben needed to know the extent of her prior knowledge before he could figure out how and what to teach her.

They set up a fire on the beach and spread out a blanket to sit on. Facing Rey, Ben asked, "What do you know about the Force?"

"It's a power Jedi have that lets them control people and … make things float." She sounded lame as she finished.

Stifling a laugh, Ben tilted his head, considering how to respond. "Well … you're not wrong. But it's a lot bigger than that. The Force is not a power in and of itself. Jedi draw their power from it. But it's not exclusive to the Jedi. It's part of all living creatures. It's not something you _have_ , it's something you _use_."

"Okay." Rey nodded. "But what _is_ it?"

"It's the energy that exists between everything. Some people are more sensitive to it and can connect with it, manipulate it for their own purposes. That's called being Force-sensitive. Back in the Old Republic, Force-sensitive children were sent to train with the Jedi and become knights."

"So, how does it work?" Rey leaned forward eagerly, hungry for knowledge.

Ben answered slowly, thinking through how best to summarize such a broad subject. "There are different ways, different methods for different purposes. You mentioned controlling people—that's called a mind trick, but it only works with people who don't have good mental defenses, and it can't be used to make anyone to do something harmful. You can also use the Force to sense people's thoughts and emotions."

Rey winced slightly at this. "I think I've been on the receiving end of that."

"It's not always that invasive. Sometimes it's subtle, and effortless, like intuition." Ben took his lightsaber from his belt and turned it over in his hand. "And then, there are the martial arts. The Force can help you sense your surroundings and anticipate what's about to happen. That's why some Jedi also made such good pilots, because they had exceptional reflexes."

"Do you think I would too?" Rey asked, her hope and excitement returning.

"Probably. Maybe we'll test that out." Some part of Ben wanted to see what she could do, push her to her limits, if she had any. She seemed to take naturally to everything. And yet she was not arrogant about her abilities, as Luke and the other padawans and even Ben himself were at times.

They spent hours talking. It was strange for Ben, trying to articulate and summarize all the stories, abilities, theories, and disciplines he had learned about over the course of his training. Rey was full of questions. She had heard a handful of stories, most of them sensationalized accounts of relatively recent events. Before the conversation could drift too close to personal territory, Ben suggested they cease the discussion and try meditating. "I'll coach you through what to focus on, so you can learn to feel the Force around you."

He was taken aback by how quickly she picked up the exercise. Rey had barely been sitting for a minute before she sensed the light, the darkness, the life, the death, the peace, the violence, and the balance hanging between all of them.

"Did you meditate on Jakku?" he queried.

"Not exactly. I didn't think of it as that. But …" Rey's voice sounded as though her consciousness was very far away. "When I was hungriest, like during a stand storm when I couldn't leave home, I tried to slow down my body, move as little as possible, to save my energy. Focusing on my breathing helped me think less about being hungry and thirsty."

There had been occasions when Ben fasted for a period time as part of his training, but he had never been hungry due to lack of resources. But instead of pity, he felt a kind of respect, realizing she had endured so much. She was a survivor as well as a warrior.

"I guess that's enough," Ben said finally.

When Rey opened her eyes, she looked up at the sky, and her eyes grew even wider in surprise. "Night's almost over."

Ben had not realized it, but looking now he saw that she was right: the sky was starting to grow brighter, warning them that the night was ending.

"I guess that means we're done for now," he said. "Next time we'll work on combat."

Rey grinned. "What, you want a rematch?" she teased.

Ben returned the smile briefly. Then he glanced at Maz's castle on the other side of the lake, searching out his borrowed cargo ship. "I need to make a trip, see if I can get some things that would help us."

Rey's cheerful countenance faded, but she looked at him evenly. "When will you be back?"

"In two nights at the latest. If I'm not back tomorrow, I want you to keep practicing on your own." He paused and then added, "If you need anything—if there's ever an emergency—have Maz contact me. If she can't reach me, have her contact my parents. She's a friend of theirs."

Rey nodded. "I'll have to talk to Maz about how much I can work, if I'll be splitting my time to train. Why don't you come for the second half of each night?"

"Okay."

"Thank you, Ben." She extended a hand toward him.

He took it in his own and shook it once firmly. "You're welcome." Still holding her hand, he added as an afterthought, "May the Force be with you."

She stared at him, as though he had said something both strange and familiar. Perhaps she did not quite understand what it meant. But it stirred something in her—a spark of confidence.

Ben had almost reached his ship when the sun peeked out from the horizon. He turned around to look back the way he had come. Though Rey was far away, he could see her form change, shimmering and shrinking until she looked like little more than a dot in the distance.

The exhaustion of staying up all night started to catch up to Ben as he flew to Hosnian Prime. His parents, naturally, were nowhere to be found, having gone to their respective workplaces. Ben found it somewhat strange to be back in the elegant urban setting after spending two nights in the rough yet peaceful environment of Takodana.

After he had bathed and changed into fresh clothes, he all but collapsed into his bed, and slept more peacefully than he had in years.

When he woke, a day seemed to have passed. His parents had sent him messages, apologizing for not seeing him while he was awake, asking him to check in. Ben sent a brief reply, explaining that he was leaving again, this time to visit Luke, and that he was not sure when he would be back because he might have another appointment after that.

After making planetfall a short distance from the training temple, Ben stayed in the cockpit of his borrowed ship for a few moments, steeling himself, trying to think of what to say. This was not going to be comfortable, least of all at the beginning. He and Luke had clashed many times throughout his training, and they had not parted on the best of terms. Ben did not consider his uncle to be an exemplary teacher, and he did not like the idea of trying to imitate him, but he was the only example of a teacher he had, and he ought to use whatever resources were available to him, for Rey's sake. Besides that, Luke was the only person he could think of who might be able to help break the curse. Remembering that renewed Ben's resolve.

Luke was waiting outside when he finally disembarked. He had sensed Ben's arrival, and was understandably surprised to see him returning to the training temple just days after leaving for the much-anticipated vacation. His first instinct was to assume that something was wrong.

"Ben," he said by way of greeting. "Is everything alright?"

"Everything's … fine, for the most part."

Luke looked at him with grave apprehension. "Did something happen with your parents?"

"We had a fight," Ben admitted, not understanding his concern. "Dad sent me on a delivery run, to clear my head, I guess. We haven't really talked since."

Luke seemed to relax slightly, but his curiosity remained. "What brings you back here so soon?"

Ben looked directly at him, more serious and more respectful than he had been toward him in a long time. "I know I haven't been the best of students, and you don't owe me any favors. But I need your help. Well, actually, _I_ don't, but—I met someone who does. And you're the only person I know who might be able to give it. It's important. But I'm not sure you'll believe me if I tell you."

Luke raised his eyebrows, starting to smile. "Sounds intriguing. Try me." He turned away and motioned for Ben to follow him.

Ben trailed after his uncle, trying to bury the resentment that the familiar situation stirred in him. Sometimes it seemed as though all he had ever done was follow in his elders' footsteps, often in their shadow. With Han, it had been his choice, his own desire to be a pilot someday. In Luke's case, he had followed reluctantly, dejectedly, the first day he came to the temple, and every time he got in trouble and was taken aside for a lecture.

But now, Luke did something he had never done before: he stopped walking and waited until Ben had caught up, and then fell into step beside him.

They went to Luke's hut, which was somewhat larger than the students' because he sometimes hosted visitors. Ben accepted the drink offered to him and preoccupied himself with drinking it while Luke bustled around, cleaning up a space for them to sit and eat.

When Luke finally sat down, they were both silent, until Luke said, "I know trust doesn't come easily for you, Ben, but you can trust me. If there's any way I _can_ help, I'll do it. That's what family is for."

Those were pretty words, Ben thought cynically. He rotated the cup in his hands. "I'm not sure how to start."

"Who are you trying to help?" Luke asked.

Careful to avoid saying "A girl," Ben answered, "Someone I met on Takodana. Her name is Rey. She's strong in the Force—untrained, but stronger than she knows."

While he did not lose his focus, Ben relaxed enough to open up and tell Luke the entire story—finding the strange Force-sensitive girl in the forest, witnessing her transformation firsthand, testing her abilities, offering to teach her how to use her powers. Luke listened intently, the emotions on his face shifting between concern, bewilderment, disapproval, and something that might have been amusement.

When he had finished, Ben asked pointedly, "Have you ever heard of anyone like her? Or anyone who could do that kind of thing to someone?"

Luke seemed uncertain. "There are legends, folk tales. Some are older than others, and not all of them align with the Jedi's knowledge about the Force. I never put much stock in stories like that—they sounded more like fables than history. One thing is certain: whatever that person did to her goes beyond just tapping into the energy around us."

"Do you think he could be a Sith?" Ben tried not to sound too excited about this prospect. He had always harbored an interest in the legends of the Sith, though he kept it secret, knowing his family and fellow padawans think it strange and suspicious.

"Not necessarily," Luke reflected. "Not every person who uses the Dark Side is a true Sith."

"Do you know where we could find out more about that kind of thing?"

Luke glanced at the shelves lining one wall of his dwelling. They held many of the Jedi artifacts he had gathered over the course of his travels: tools, ornaments, books made from materials long considered obsolete. "I have old texts I can look through. My friends and colleagues have others. It may take a few days to find the information, if it is there." He looked back at Ben. "Would you want to look with me?"

"No. There's something else," Ben said. Luke looked wary at this, but stayed quiet as Ben explained, "She wants to learn about the Force, but she's not sure she wants to come to the temple. I offered to teach her during the vacation, and then she'll decide. Do you have anything I could use, to help her catch up?"

Ben was almost afraid that Luke would insist that Rey come to train at the temple instead. But Luke seemed to relax at this request. He nodded and went over to the lowest shelf, which was the least dusty and held more commonplace items, including a few datapads. Luke sorted through them and found one before turning back to Ben.

"Here." Luke handed him the datapad. "This has digitized copies of the texts I've assigned, and some others I collected. You can share them with her."

"Thank you, Uncle." It was the first time in a long time that Ben had said those words out of true gratitude rather than obligation.

As they walked back to the ship, Luke asked casually, "Your mom said something about a party for your birthday."

Ben had almost forgotten about that. "Last we talked, nothing had been decided. It's up to me in the end. At least, that's how we left things."

"Have you told your parents about this girl?"

Ben swallowed and tried to sound nonchalant. "Not yet."

"Do you plan to?"

"I … hadn't decided."

They stopped outside the ship. "If I were you, I'd let them know sooner rather than later," Luke said frankly.

Ben scoffed. "You know how that'll go. They're dying for me to hook up with some nice girl—"

"Is that what you're hoping?"

Ben spluttered. "I—no, I just offered to be her teacher, that would be—see, this is exactly why I—"

"I'm sorry," Luke said, sounding contrite now that Ben's anger had risen. "I meant in general."

"It's none of their business," Ben insisted.

"If you decide to let someone into your life, and make plans involving them, it's their business insofar as it affects them. If you're going to be spending a lot of time on Takodana, they deserve to know why. And if things ever _did_ go in the direction they hope, with Rey or anyone else, it _would_ be their business if they gained a new family member. And it would be less of a shock to them if they knew about her before things got that far."

Ben glowered, not wanting to acknowledge the logic of his uncle's words. It was laughable how easy Luke made family dynamics sound, when he had no spouse or children of his own.

Luke smiled and gently clapped Ben's shoulder. "I'll see you before the vacation is over."

Ben paused as he was turning away. "I don't know if I'll be coming back."

"What?"

"Dad offered me the _Falcon_ if I go through with this party thing. He said I can decide for myself where I go and what I do."

Luke looked almost alarmed. "But your training …"

"Yes?" Ben looked his uncle in the eye, daring him to say what he was thinking.

"I'll have to have a word with—"

"I'm right here," Ben interrupted. "This is _my_ training you're talking about. You can have a word with me."

Luke seemed to wither before his eyes, though Ben could not quite distinguish his emotions, either by sight or through the Force.

"What, now you don't want to talk about it?" Ben mocked. Luke had never held back criticism of him before.

"No," Luke said simply. "I just want you to think about what that would mean—what you'd be leaving behind."

"What are you so _afraid_ of?" Ben demanded, almost sounding plaintive. "What is the worst thing that could happen if I stopped training? I didn't want to come here in the first place, but I did, and I tried, but this isn't the Jedi Order. Not really. There's no end goal, no graduation, no certificate of completion. A little ceremony with lightsabers won't make us knights, any more than a crown would make Mom a queen. They're just titles left over from a galaxy that doesn't exist anymore. I don't need all the rules and trappings to learn what I need to know about the Force. And neither does Rey."

Luke did not respond directly to this outburst, even as Ben mocked and questioned everything he had been working toward for over two decades. Instead he said, "Please ask your parents to contact me when they have the chance."

"Fine." Ben held up the borrowed datapad. "Thanks again for your help."

"You're welcome," Luke said sincerely. "I'll get back to you with whatever I find. May the Force be with you—and your padawan."

Ben nodded and returned the pleasantry out of habit. "May the Force be with you too."


	5. Texts and Training

_Published June 27, 2019_

Texts and Training

* * *

One need not be a chamber to be haunted,  
One need not be a house;  
The brain has corridors surpassing  
Material place.

~ Emily Dickinson

* * *

Ben intended to go his mother's apartment only long enough to eat, change clothes, and rest a bit before returning to Takodana. This time, though, his parents were there when he arrived. Naturally, they would not let him take off again without giving some explanation for why he had been away longer than planned, why he had returned to the temple, and why he was leaving again.

Ben weighed what he could safely tell them. Leia was not as familiar with the Force as Luke, and Han barely understood it. As tragic and bizarre as Rey's predicament was to Ben and Luke, it would have seemed crazy, perhaps even frightening, to Leia and Han. And then there was the matter Luke had hinted at, about the nature of Ben and Rey's relationship.

He chose his words carefully. "I met and offered to train a Force-sensitive kid on Takodana."

That surprised his parents, but they did not press him for as many details as they would have if they had known the Force-sensitive kid was a girl, or that she was under a spell.

"That's—quite generous of you," Leia remarked. She looked at him with an odd expression, so unfamiliar that it took Ben a moment to recognize the sentiment it conveyed: pride, or admiration, or at least some kind of respect. When was the last time she had looked at him that way? For years he had craved looks like that from both of his parents.

For once, Ben was glad that his parents were too absorbed in their work to pay him much attention. Leia simply asked him to check in periodically and let them know where he went.

Ben put on his school uniform, a set of robes modeled after traditional Jedi attire, before journeying to Takodana. He figured if he was going to be Rey's teacher, he ought to look the part.

After making planetfall, he bypassed Maz Kanata's castle completely, instead heading straight for the beach where he and Rey had talked the previous two nights.

He found Rey practicing with the lightsaber, facing a tree as though it were her opponent and trying different, half-practiced, half-improvised moves.

She looked cleaner and better-groomed than when Ben had first met her. Half of her hair was pulled back while the rest hung down to her shoulders. She was dressed in a darker outfit, with a tunic and a gray sash looped over her shoulders to give the illusion of a dress.

She looked pretty, Ben thought—and very human, not like a savage or an animal.

A beeping noise alerted him to BB-8's presence. Ben turned and saw the astromech rolling up to him. It asked a rather impertinent question.

"I'm not spying," Ben insisted. "I'm observing. I'm her teacher now, I have to assess her abilities."

Turning back to Rey, he watched, fascinated, as she continued to spin and swing the weapon, gaining momentum and confidence. Finally, she swung the lightsaber all the way through the tree, slicing the trunk. A moment later it shifted and fell sideways. Its landing was softened somewhat by its branches and leaves, but the impact still caused some porgs and other small creatures to flinch, cry out, or scatter. BB-8 made a sound like something between a whimper and a chastisement.

Rey looked around, a little sheepish as she realized what she had done. When she saw Ben, she turned off the lightsaber and approached him. "I didn't realize you were watching."

"Sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to intrude."

"It's alright. I didn't mean to keep you waiting."

Ben regarded the weapon in her hand. "You handle that as though you've been using it for years, not days."

"Well, like I said, I knew how to fight with a staff, so I tried adapting some of those techniques to this."

A few nearby porgs chirruped, as though to get her attention. Rey turned to them with a smile and bent down to pet one of them. "They've been helping me, too."

Ben cocked his head, watching her interact with the birds as a human. "Can you understand them?"

"Sort of," Rey answered. "I understand more when I'm a porg, but it kind of carries over to when I'm human."

"And they understand you?"

"I think so. They know that I'm one of them, some of the time. But they also know I'm not really like them. Even when I'm a porg, I don't think the way they do. I don't have their instincts, or the experience a porg my age would have. I can't swim or fly as well as them." A strange, embarrassed, almost rueful smile crossed her face. "The first few days, some of them tried to teach me. Then, after I'd watched them for a while, I realized some of the males were trying to get my attention."

Ben looked at her, then at the porgs, then back at her. "You're serious."

Rey nodded. "Porgs are very family-oriented. They choose mates pretty young and have the same mate for life. They build nests and have porglets. None of them really live on their own. But obviously I can't have a porg family." Rey made a face as though she had tasted something bitter. "Well, maybe I could, but who knows what the effects would be, switching from porg to human and back."

Ben might have laughed at such a ridiculous idea, if it had not been so utterly real, and concerning Rey. She had to contemplate such strange, bleak possibilities. It was almost as if she was caught between two worlds, not fully belonging to either.

Before Ben could think of anything to say, Rey stood and dusted off her knees. "You promised we'd work on combat," she reminded him.

"Right." After seeing the way she had practiced, Ben was a little wary of sparring with her again. Luke had always urged him to go easy on his classmates when they practiced, and there had been moments when it became clear that Luke held back on his own Force powers and fighting abilities when training his students. But there was no need to go easy on Rey; in fact, she kept Ben on his toes, reminding him again and again not to underestimate her.

Much of the time, it seemed, Rey had the right idea about how to do something; she only lacked the vocabulary to articulate these ideas. As they paused every now and then in their spar, Ben offered instructions and suggestions, exhorting her to be mindful of the Force around them. It was like pointing out something that Rey had already sensed but not consciously recognized. When he pointed out better stances or movements, she adapted quickly and did not hesitate to use her new knowledge against him.

A few times, mutually impressed and challenged by each other, they met each other's eyes and smiled over their crossed lightsaber blades, twin blue lasers illuminating their faces in the semi-darkness of the Takodana night.

Finally, as they were getting tired, Ben suggested they sit on the beach and talk and read. They spread out a blanket on the sand and built a fire, the better to see the borrowed datapad. Ben told Rey about his visit and explained what Luke had loaned him.

As he scrolled through the contents, something occurred to Ben for the first time. "Can you read?"

Perhaps not surprisingly, Rey replied, "Yes. A few languages, actually."

"How did you learn?"

"Sometimes I found datapads with logs or manuals. Those usually could switch to other languages. I picked up other spoken languages from traders."

Ben smirked a little. "Is there anything you can't do?"

Rey smiled back, a little shy but also proud. "I guess I don't know yet."

That made Ben laugh. "Would you rather read this yourself, or listen while I read?"

"You can read it. I'll listen."

Ben did so. He could not recall having ever read aloud to someone, at least not since he himself was learning to read. He was not sure if he was good at it. The first text he had chosen was a sort of treatise on the nature of light and darkness. It was written in heightened, lyrical language, at least in this translation.

When he finished a passage, he looked up to see if Rey was listening. She was frowning slightly. "That sounds lovely, but … I don't understand. Is this a story, or information?"

"Fiction or nonfiction?"

"Yeah."

"It's … well, some of it is poetry, I guess."

"What's that?"

Of course—a planet like Jakku was not likely to have any poets, or creative literature from other planets. "Um … well, it's a style of writing. A short piece of poetry is called a poem. Often it rhymes. But not always. It usually has patterns in the words, to make them sound a certain way." He looked back at the screen, skimming through the scanned pages. "There's also a lot of philosophy—that's, uh, trying to figure out how the universe works."

"I was expecting something about the history of the Jedi, or instructions on how to use the Force."

Ben regarded her thoughtfully. "Being a Jedi—or a Sith, or any kind of Force user—isn't about knowing a lot of facts, or remembering certain stories, or following a bunch of rules. It's about … how you interact with the world. How you perceive and respond to it. It's a whole philosophy." He hesitated, uncertain whether it was wise, as a teacher, to admit his own doubts about what he was supposed to be teaching. Deciding to trust her, he confessed, "To be honest, I don't know if I believe or agree with all of it, but you have to learn it before you can decide whether you do or not."

Rey looked at him and nodded in acceptance, wrapping her blanket closer around herself.

They took turns reading, passing the datapad back and forth. Ben liked hearing Rey's voice as she read in her sweet, unpretentious accent. But Rey said she liked listening to him, and that she was tired after working and training, so Ben obliged her by taking longer turns.

When he looked up from reading a longer passage, he saw that Rey was lying on her side on the blanket he had brought.

Ben spoke softly. "Rey?"

She did not answer. Ben wondered if he should let her sleep, or wake her so she would not feel she had wasted her time as a human.

She shivered when the breeze picked up. Seeing this, Ben put the datapad down and and carefully reached around her to adjust the blanket, tucking it around her so she was shielded from the cold air.

He decided to let her sleep. But now he was not sure what to do with himself. He didn't think it right to leave her alone, out in the open; but he couldn't just sit there and watch her sleep. He supposed he could continue reading for his own benefit, so he could refresh his memory and teach her well. But he found it hard to focus on the words, as he kept looking up from the page to glance at Rey. She looked more peaceful than he had ever seen her. She was … beautiful, he reflected.

A beeping sound behind him startled him out of his reverie. He turned and saw BB-8 rolling up to the blanket.

"Keep it down!" Ben hissed. "What are you doing here?"

The droid seemed to shrink back as it registered his sharp tone, but it answered him matter-of-factly.

" _'Chaperone?'_ Maz said that?" Ben felt indignant, but upon reflection, he realized with embarrassment and some shame that Maz probably had the right idea. "Fine. Just be quiet, alright?"

BB-8 made a noise of assent, and retreated to a spot where the forest bordered the lake. It acted as though it was idly exploring, but it turned its eye to the humans every now and then.

Choosing to ignore the droid, Ben lay down on his side and put the datapad down on the blanket. He tried reading again, and got through a few paragraphs, but, almost inevitably, his mind and his eyes wandered to Rey again.

He thought back to what his uncle had said, and what he expected his parents would say when they eventually learned about her. He was starting to think they would have to, because he did not anticipate or desire an end to this—this arrangement, this relationship, that he and Rey had established. He only wondered what shape it would take.

He had never felt this way about anyone—wanting to be physically, emotionally, and spiritually close to someone, in a way different than a parent. Part of the reason he had offered to teach Rey was so he would have a reason to keep coming back, to see her again and again. But he was starting to want more than that.

He had never been in love before, and he did not think he was now, but he suspected he might be falling into it.

Looking at Rey now, so vulnerable in sleep, Ben felt emotions he had heard about but never experienced before—an instinct to guard and protect, which Luke would have commended; but also a desire to hold and possess, which Luke would have abhorred.

Luke had talked about the flaws in the Jedi's teachings about emotional attachment. He had hinted that the practice of taking children from their parents and the prohibition against marriage had negatively impacted his biological father, Anakin Skywalker, though he never explicated how this had happened. Luke himself had never married, instead dedicating himself to preserving the legacy of the Jedi, but he had never said outright whether he wanted his students to practice celibacy.

If Rey joined the training temple, would Luke allow two of his students to be together? Would he see her as someone who could help Ben stay in the light, or someone who would drive his already volatile nephew into the darkness? Ben could sense both in her, and he felt inexorably drawn to both aspects of her.

He felt as though he were verging along a precipice, getting closer and closer to the edge, catching glimpses of what lay below. He could still turn back, but it would be arduous, and leave him wondering what would have happened if he had continued.

 _The lightsaber called, but when it was touched, everything changed._

 _"No-o-o! Come back!"_

 _Rey and Ben watched in horror as the little girl was pulled backwards and prevented from running after the departing ship. They both recognized her as a younger Rey, distraught, pleading._

 _When it was over, Maz was there, her words gentle but unwelcome. "Dear child. I see your eyes. You already know the truth. Whomever you're waiting for on Jakku … they're never coming back."_

 _Rey ran away, toward the woods, but there she faced a new terror, this one fully real in the present moment. Ben recognized the kind of fear that coursed through her, for he had felt it himself, usually in dreams or moments of loneliness. And when he sensed what caused it, he stepped back in shock._

 _It was the thing that had given him nightmares throughout his life. It was a deformed humanoid creature whose name he did not know, but whose presence was intimately, unpleasantly familiar._

 _"You." The creature's tone was strange, almost surprised, as he appraised Rey, who was unarmed and immobilized. "You're just a scavenger. You haven't even been trained." He stepped closer, reaching out his hand. Rey flinched, anticipating the touch of those clawlike fingers, yet they did not make contact with her skin. Instead, she felt the creature probing deeper into her mind. "And yet … so much strength. You have the spirit of a true Jedi." He withdrew, focusing on her whole person once more. "But not for long."_  
 _Rey's memory of what happened next was mostly of disorientation. It took her several moments to get her bearings and realize she was now a porg._

 _She tried to run on her webbed feet, only to stumble and fall on her feathered stomach. She desperately tried to flap her wings and fly, but just as she started to gain lift, her tiny limbs froze again. She was suspended in midair, but then she started to move backwards, further and further, until she reached the creature's outstretched hands._

 _Rey whimpered as he grasped her and turned her around to face him. Now he seemed even bigger—the biggest, most formidable thing in the entire galaxy. Rey had never felt so small in her life. The creature laughed over her, reveling in her helplessness and humiliation. Then he tossed her into the air, where she hung as though suspended by invisible strings._

 _The memory blended into another: the arrival of a stranger in the forest, a tall young man carrying a shooting weapon. He chased after Rey, who struggled to fly away, until his shot hit her wing and she came falling to the ground._

 _Then something different happened: the hunter was not alone. He was being followed by another hunter, and it was not clear which of them it was hunting._

 _Ben came forward, searching for his quarry, but instead he found the young woman—his friend, his apprentice, his partner—bleeding, in pain, in danger of death, all because of him._

"No … please …" Ben begged.

 _The creature came up behind him as he knelt in despair._

"No! Leave him!" Rey pleaded.

 _The creature hissed, "Fulfill—your—destiny!"_

Ben awoke with a start, gasping as he sat upright. A few feet away, Rey was also panting for breath, looking at him with wide, frightened eyes, her blanket fallen from her shoulders.

"Rey," Ben gasped. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Are you?"

"I think so."

"What happened?"

Ben looked around at the datapad on the blanket and the remains of the now burnt-out fire. "You fell asleep while we were reading. But—I guess I fell asleep too. I was having this dream …" He had been dreaming about Rey—but in part of the dream, he had _been_ Rey.

"I was dreaming, too. It felt like you were there."

"You were in mine, too. And … so was the sorcerer. I thought … I saw when he cursed you."

Rey looked at him in bewilderment. "That's what I was dreaming about. Did we … is it possible for people to share dreams? Is that some weird Force power?"

"I don't know. If that's what happened, it wasn't intentional on my part. I saw you were asleep, and I laid down and tried to keep reading …" Ben trailed off, unwilling to admit why he had stopped reading.

Rey seemed intensely embarrassed. "I'm so sorry."

"For what?"

"Falling asleep on you. And pulling you into my nightmare."

"Hey." Ben reached out and touched her shoulder. "It's okay. I've had nightmares my whole life." He smiled wryly, dropping his arm. "You probably have more reason to have them than I do."

She returned his half-smile, half-grimace. "I guess."

They both looked away, glancing at the moon (it was quite late in the night now) and the lake and the forest. The silence that hung between them bordered on awkwardness.

"Do you want me to leave?" Ben asked.

"No." She paused, looking sideways at him. "Do you want to leave?"

"Not if you want me here."

"I do. You make me feel safe."

Hearing that only made him want to stay more, to preserve that feeling for her. Despite being the son of heroes and training in the ways of the Jedi, he had never been a protector, a comforter. There had never been anyone who needed anything from him. It was nice to be needed, or better yet, wanted.

"Was that what it was like?" he asked. He did not need to explain what he was referring to.

Rey swallowed and nodded. "Yes."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Rey did not answer right away. When she looked at Ben, there were tears in her eyes. He started to reach out, thinking to touch her arm again, but suddenly she thrust herself forward, putting her arms around him and pressing her face against his shoulder.

Ben was shocked. The only person who hugged him anymore was his mother, when they reunited or were about to separate, and even that customary exchange had become awkward on both sides. At any rate, he never initiated that kind of physical contact—even if, on some level, some subconscious part of him wanted it.

Now, Rey was crying and breathing heavily against him, and nothing seemed more appropriate than to put his arms around her and hold her close. She didn't need words. She just needed someone to be there—someone who understood fear and loneliness.

Ben had never held someone smaller than himself, but he tried to do what he thought his parents would have done, rubbing her back a little, stroking her hair. Hearing her sobs subside and her breathing even out brought a sense of relief and satisfaction. But neither of them let go, not wanting this moment of connection to end.

Ben tried to remember the details of the dream. He had seen at least one of the visions she experienced when she touched the Skywalker lightsaber, and he was pretty sure it was from her past. He would have to ask about it another time. More pressing were the memories of her transformation.

"This might sound strange," he said slowly. "I don't want to frighten you more, but … in the dream, when I saw the sorcerer—I felt like I recognized him, somehow. I think I've seen him—or felt him. I don't understand it."

He had no idea what Rey was thinking, but then she confessed, "You reminded me of him, when we first met."

Ben blinked, his brow furrowed. "How so?"

She drew back from her embrace, shifting on the blanket so she was sitting right next to Ben. "I can't explain it. Maybe I was … sensing it through the Force. You have something in common with him. I just don't know what."

Hearing this, Ben felt unnerved all over again. Rey, however, seemed past the point of fearing him. She grasped his arm with both hands and rested her head on his shoulder. Ben tried to cover her clasped hands with one of his.

"Do you dream about that day often?" Ben asked.

"Not exactly. I dream about transforming, or not being able to change back and forth." She paused, and there was real anxiety in her voice when she spoke again. "I'm worried I might be becoming less human."

Ben tried not to betray the fear these words stirred in him. "How do you mean?"

"It's hard to put into words. My first few days as a porg were really vivid—like in the dream. Everything was new and frightening. I looked like a porg, but I still thought like a human. I remembered everything about being human. Now … it's getting hard to tell. I wonder if something might happen … if I might forget about being human, or stop changing back and forth." Rey paused and let go of Ben's arm to wipe more tears from her face. "Sometimes I think it might not be so bad to forget, or to always be a porg. Other times … well … I've come to realize, I like being human." She looked down at her hand resting on her lap, her legs folded under her. "It's not easy, but … there's a lot to like about it."

"What, specifically?"

He sensed her becoming embarrassed again. "Mostly little things. Sometimes big things." She snuggled into his side again. "This is one."

Feeling encouraged by this, and more tender than he'd ever felt toward anyone, Ben put his arm around her, turned his face toward her and kissed the side of her head. Rey seemed to freeze at this, but then she leaned into him, apparently welcoming it.

The spent the very last part of the night this way, huddled together like two lost souls, until the sky began to brighten. Ben was starting to dread the dawn. The darkness of night was peaceful, at least when they were together. The coming of light meant the end of their time together.

"No one's ever done this for me before," Rey said as they folded up their blankets and gathered their belongings.

"Done what?" Ben asked.

"Held me. Listened." She looked at him with eyes soft, sincere. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Ben paused. "Of course, this isn't typically part of the master-student relationship."

He sensed something like disappointment from her. "Right. I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Ben said quickly. "I don't mind. I … I only point that out, because … well … if you want me to be something other than just a teacher to you … I'll be that."

"You'll be what?"

"Whatever you want me to be to you."

Rey looked at him with a kind of wonder, both hopeful and afraid to hope. "Do you … do you want to be anything besides my teacher?"

Ben gulped, never taking his eyes from hers. "I think … I'm starting to." He looked down. "I know right now … you're the closest thing I have to a friend."

Rey cocked her head and asked, "You don't have any others? Your family, or the other Jedi?"

He shook his head. "Not like this. Not even close."

Rey looked at him as though she did not quite believe him, or as if she somehow disapproved of his saying such a thing.

Ben glanced at the sky and then back at Rey. "Will you be okay if I leave?"

"I'll be fine. I'm safe as long as I have the lightsaber."

"Alright. I'll be back."

Rey smiled, and the softness in her expression—deeply appreciative, but also wistful—did something odd to Ben's heart. "I know. You're the first person who ever came back for me."

That meant a lot more now that he had glimpsed her past. "I'll keep coming as long as you want me to," Ben promised.

They moved at the same time to hug each other. They stayed like that for a moment, wrapped in each other's arms, before Rey gently pulled away. She stepped back, and as she looked down at her body, the change began: she shimmered and morphed, and a moment later she was a porg. The sight made Ben's heart feel heavy.

She looked up at him, and Ben guessed from the way her eyes focused that she still knew him. He raised a hand in a gesture of greeting or farewell. She responded with a nod and a wave of her wing, then turned and followed the other porgs gathering near the lakeshore.

Ben made up his mind at that moment: whatever Rey chose—whether she stayed on Takodana, or returned to Jakku, or joined the training temple—he would stay with her, as long as she wanted him.


	6. Hope and Fear

_Published August 21, 2019_

Sorry for the delay in updates. I had a very busy summer. I ended up rearranging some material in order to flesh out a complete chapter to post this month. I hope it is satisfactory. Reviews/comments motivate me to work quickly!

This chapter contains major spoilers for _Solo: A Star Wars Story_.

* * *

"Hope and Fear"

Whoever is your admirer,  
son, he has won my heart;  
the love that I lavish on you  
he shall have, parcel and part:  
seeing he loves whom I love  
from the depths of my heart.

~ St. John of the Cross, "Of a Communication," translated by John Frederick Nims

* * *

Rey had never been so happy, so anxious, so hopeful, or so afraid. She had never felt such strong emotions, nor so many simultaneously. When she thought about the future, she felt torn between hope for what she could gain and fear of what she could lose.

She tried to sleep the day away, but she had too much to think about. Her mind kept going back to Ben. Truth be told, her thoughts had been gravitating toward him ever since they met.

At first, Rey had not known how to feel about Ben. As a porg, she had seen him as a menace. Even as a human, she sensed much darkness in him. But when they talked, she came to realize he was still like a boy, not quite a man yet. In some strange way, he was as lost as she was.

BB-8 said it had heard Ben say, "This is going to take some getting used to," the first time he saw her transform at daybreak. That sounded as though he planned to come regularly, over an extended period of time. Rey had been afraid to hope that he would do so.

When he had returned the very next day, it had brought more relief and validation than it probably merited, and made her trust him more. After agreeing to learn from him, she was surprised by how disappointed she was when he said he would have to skip one night. She told herself that since she had waited for her parents for years, she could wait for him for a few days.

Training with Ben gave her something to look forward to, and a goal to work toward, in the short term. On Jakku, she had simply been biding her time until her family returned. On Takodana, she had been in a state of uncertainty, afraid to leave the planet yet afraid to be away from Jakku for too long. The lack of water and abundance of hungry scavengers made Jakku a far more dangerous place to transform into a porg. On Takodana she could take shelter in the forest or the lake, and as a human she enjoyed being among the greenery and working for Maz. With no idea how to break the curse, she had lived as though waiting for something—anything—to break through the monotony and help her. She did not know whether learning about the Force would help her solve her problem, but it would at least enable her to defend herself and her new friends.

Connecting with the Force—controlling it, or letting herself be controlled by it—did not seem so daunting when they worked together. Ben was far more learned than Rey, but he never spoke condescendingly to her. He seemed to match her sense of competition, which had helped her survive on Jakku, but with him it was less adversarial, more like a kind of respect.

And then there was last night.

When Rey was a child, the only reason anyone tried to touch her was to make her move or to take something from her. She remembered Unkar Plutt's meaty grip on her arm, shoves and blows from other scavengers and traders who wanted her out of the way or tried to steal her goods. The sorcerer had held her tiny porg body in his cruel hands just to gloat and terrify her.

Ben did not strike her as someone inclined toward physical contact. He moved swiftly and powerfully when hunting or dueling, but he was tense and standoffish when not in the heat of a challenge. Somehow, though, they both relaxed around each other relatively quickly. It was as though they recognized something in each other, both familiar and foreign, similar yet different, that made them trust each other.

Rey had been so completely at ease around him that she allowed the warmth of their campfire and the sound of his voice reading poetry to lull her to sleep. At first she had fought the urge to sleep. On Jakku she never would have allowed herself to be in such a vulnerable position. Even on Takodana, she was wary of the sorcerer and strangers. But she had been with Ben. It was ironic, considering he had tried to kill her when they first met, but now, Rey found that she felt most safe when she was with him. It was not only that she no longer perceived him as a threat. She felt sure that if danger came upon them, he would protect her.

When she had fallen asleep, it had been the first time she slept as a human in months. She sometimes dreamed as a porg, but she dreamed much more vividly as a human. The difference was terrifying.

Rey had experienced nightmares all her life, but after meeting BB-8 and Maz and Ben, her nightmares had adopted a new tone. Before, she had mainly dreamed about being in danger herself, because there had been no one else for her to worry about. Now, she also dreamed about danger threatening the people she cared about, who offered her kindness and company.

Even when awake, in the sober light of day, Rey worried about the risk her friends took by associating with her. She still did not know who had told the sorcerer about her discovery of the Skywalker lightsaber. For all she knew, it could have been any of the patrons who frequented Maz's castle.

Rey might have expected a teacher to tell a student to toughen up, to act like an adult and not cry over a nightmare. Ben had done the opposite. When Rey saw there was no judgment in him, only concern for her, she acted impulsively and hugged him.

She had not even known how badly she wanted to be held, to be touched by someone who cared about her and wanted nothing from her. Even now, as a porg, the memory of Ben stroking her hair, rubbing her back, kissing her head, and holding her hand filled her with warmth and a sense of security in the midst of uncertainty.

After last night, her thoughts regarding Ben were tied to her thoughts about the sorcerer, someone she preferred not to think about. She had a dreadful hunch that thinking about him gave him a foothold in her mind. Though, as far as she knew, he had not been on Takodana since the day he cursed her, she could sometimes sense him—his mood, the general bend of his thoughts—and almost see him, as though in her mind's eye.

Suddenly, as she dwelt on the thought of him, she heard him. It was almost the opposite of the last time he had been in her mind: not only did he know what—or rather, of whom—she was thinking, he made his own thoughts known to her.

 _"You think he is yours."_

Terror seized Rey, as though a cold hand had pierced her skin and squeezed her heart. The other porgs noticed her change of mood but did not do more than peer at her for a moment. Rey tried to summon every ounce of self-control that she still possessed while in animal form.

 _"You know the truth. He is mine."_

Rey considered this, but then felt a strong sense of resolve. _No. Not yet. Not ever, if I can help it._

 _"You think you can keep him from his destiny?"_

 _Who says what his destiny is?_

His tone changed, becoming gentler, coaxing. _"Y_ _ou can be with him, if you so choose."_

Then an image entered her mind, unbidden. In it, she stood as a human in the daytime, though she stood in shadow. Ben was at her side, his hand on her shoulder. Behind them, the sorcerer stood with his hand on Ben's shoulder. Each of them held a lightsaber with a crackling red blade.

Rey squawked, upsetting the other porgs. It was enough of a distraction to banish the image from her mind. _No. Not that way._

 _"_ _I could teach you both. You sense his power, just as I do. Together we would be invincible."_

 _Never._

Rey flew back to the tree where she kept her lightsaber and her blanket. Maz's counterspell had made the weapon her most powerful protection against the sorcerer. But now Rey also associated it with Ben, with their training. Touching it felt almost like being close to him.

She waited alertly, but the sorcerer's voice did not enter her mind again.

Part of her wished Ben would return soon. But another part of her suspected it might be better for Ben if he never came back to her.

* * *

Usually Ben only meditated when told to do so. It was a regular part of the padawans' schedule, and Luke sometimes made it a consequence for minor transgressions, particularly those prompted by emotions he deemed too strong. Ben had come to dislike it, but now it seemed necessary.

The fact that he and Rey had somehow shared a dream was puzzling. He was actually quite fascinated by it. But the fact that he recognized the being who cursed her was deeply troubling.

Ben sat on the floor of his room with his eyes closed, his legs crossed, and his hands resting on his knees. He forced himself to breathe in a slow, even rhythm. He relaxed his body, focused his mind, and reached out with his feelings.

Naturally, the first beings he sensed were the ones physically closest to him—his mother and her staff a few rooms away, neighbors in nearby apartments, passersby outside.

Ben tried to reach further, beyond the city, beyond the planet, and finally, with a great effort, beyond the system. He searched for the presence he had felt in the dream, and throughout his life. He knew he would recognize it.

Extending his focus so far was draining, and he felt dizzy as he realized how relatively little space he was covering. Perhaps a search over physical distance was not the most effective approach.

He tried to recall the images and feelings from the dream, and from his own childhood, his own nightmares. Chief among them had always been fear, but there had been other dark emotions at times—fury, resentment, loneliness, melancholy, misery. He tried to envision the creature's gaunt, scarred face, his decrepit stature, details he had only seen clearly in Rey's memory.

It happened slowly, and then suddenly: what he remembered and imagined, he suddenly sensed in the present. Yet he could not see the sorcerer clearly—he was shrouded in darkness, like a veil through which only an outline of a shape could be seen.

"I know you're there," Ben growled. "Why don't you show yourself?"

He was not sure whether the sorcerer would answer. He tried to remain calm when he heard the drawling reply, the same voice he had heard subconsciously in his childhood and audibly in the dream. _"I've been waiting for you to call. I was starting to wonder if you ever would."_

This was what Ben wanted: an opportunity to demand answers. But apparently an audience with him was what the sorcerer wanted too. Ben would have to deal with him carefully.

Suddenly, a sharp rapping sound startled Ben back into his physical surroundings. His concentration broke, and whatever presence he had sensed disappeared.

"Ben?" It was his mother at the door.

Growling in frustration, Ben got his feet and slammed on the panel to open the door. _"What?"_ he all but spat.

Leia blinked at this unexpected reaction, but she did not back down. "I just wanted to talk to you."

"I'm _busy_! And aren't you, too?"

"I just finished my meeting, and your father is here. The three of us need to talk."

"You have no idea how important this is!" Ben railed.

Leia folded her arms. "Maybe we would if you let on what you're doing. And don't say we don't have time to listen; you keep passing up chances to talk to us while we're all here."

Ben glowered, hating her logic, doubting she could even wrap her mind around the things he was dealing with. Before he could think of a retort, Leia turned and walked away. Ben decided the best thing to do would be to comply and get it over with.

Han was already seated at the dining table. Leia and Ben sat in their usual spots, but instead of a family dinner, it seemed to Ben like a negotiating table. That, he supposed, was one thing common to the careers of a smuggler and a politician.

Leia got down to business. "We need to talk about what I suggested at the start of vacation."

"About the party?" Ben clarified.

"Yes. Korr—my intern—has everything planned out. She only needs my say-so to make the arrangements. I don't want you saying I acted behind your back on this."

"How honorable of you," Ben said sardonically. As if he really had a choice about whether this event would take place.

Han spoke up. "My offer still stands, Ben."

That was something. Ben weighed the discomfort of enduring a party for one evening, and the unlimited time he could be pilot of the _Millennium Falcon_. It might actually be worth it.

If Leia was willing to let him dictate _some_ terms, he supposed he could—perhaps should—take advantage of that.

"Alright," Ben said. "I've decided."

His parents looked at him expectantly, neither of them sure what he would say.

"I'll go to this party. You can say it's for my birthday. But I _don't_ want you inviting a bunch of girls to introduce to me."

"Why not?" Leia asked in exasperation.

"Because …" Ben braced himself and tried to think of Rey rather than the people to whom he spoke. "I met a girl."

To his astonishment, Han smiled and said, "I know."

Leia was equally perplexed by both men's statements. "What? When? And how did you know?"

Han answered, "Most guys wouldn't travel between systems on a daily basis to give free lessons to someone they just met, unless they have another motive."

Ben said nothing, and his silence seemed a confirmation. Leia turned to him and demanded, "Well, who is she?"

Resolving to stick to the basic facts, Ben answered, "Her name is Rey. She's a mechanic for Maz Kanata. She might join the Jedi school when our vacation is over."

"Why haven't you mentioned—"

"Because I knew how you'd react!" Ben exclaimed. "First, you'd think it was more serious than it was. Then, if it did get serious, you wouldn't realize how much."

Leia raised her eyebrows. " _Is_ it serious?"

"It—" Ben faltered, lowering his eyes. "I don't know. I don't even know if she likes me that way."

"Well, then you ought to ask her."

He ran his fingers through his hair in agitation. "You don't know what you're saying. She has enough to think about already. She's … dealing with some weird Force stuff."

Leia considered this, then brightened as an idea came to her. "You should invite her to the party!"

Ben was not shocked by the suggestion—he had thought of it himself, somewhere in the back of his mind—but it still aroused mixed feelings. "I don't know if she'd like that. I—I mean, I'm sure she'd like to meet you, but I don't know if she likes parties."

"Maz does," Han said. "She could come too."

Ben tried to picture the two women—a pirate, and a Force-sensitive scavenger-turned-mechanic—among the politicians and aristocrats his mother rubbed elbows with. It was hard to imagine how that kind of scene could be comfortable. On the other hand, they would probably get along with Han and his friends, like his old smuggler colleagues and the young pilots he mentored.

"I'll think about it," he said. Then he remembered something. "If you want her to come, it would have to be after nightfall. She's—busy during the day."

Leia nodded. "Alright. We can arrange that. I won't make you spend time with anyone else. But I still have to invite the women on my staff."

Ben nodded in acceptance.

Han smiled and pushed his chair back from the table. "Well, I'm glad we were able to work this out."

Leia and Ben also stood. While Leia left to call her intern, Ben hung back. "You know this means you have to give me the _Falcon,_ " Ben reminded Han smugly. Then something occurred to him that made him frown. "But—I'll need a copilot."

"Yeah, you will."

Ben looked at his father and slowly understood. "You knew that when you offered."

Han seemed genuinely surprised and amused that that had finally dawned on Ben. "You should have thought of that when you accepted."

Feeling like a fool, Ben went back to his room and laid down on his bed. Meditating seemed impossible now that he had these new things to think about.

He had to figure out how to invite Rey, and how to make the affair bearable for both of them. He realized with no small amount of apprehension that he would have to tell her about his family, the legendary Skywalker-Organa-Solo family.

Should he invite her as a date, or simply as a friend? Would she be open to having a romantic relationship? What if she was offended, or frightened, or disgusted, and decided she did not want any kind of relationship with him? What if he kept his true feelings to himself and never found out if she felt similarly?

And then there was the matter of his inherited ship and his need for a copilot. His parents were out of the question. Even if they had been available and willing, the point of having a ship of his own was to be able to travel away from the family unit, not drag it along with him. Maybe a droid could do the job, but Ben had never liked droids.

There was only one person he could think of who he would want to be his copilot. But would Rey agree to have that role? If Ben continued to train her, it might be a fair exchange, a way for her to pay him back, if she wanted to frame it in those terms. But somehow Ben preferred imagining it as a mutual partnership—as if they had equal ownership of the _Falcon_ , an equal say in where they went.

By all worldly standards, Rey was his inferior in most ways—age, rank, wealth, education. But in ways most of the galaxy could not see—skill, intuition, intelligence, empathy, strength in the Force—she was his equal. He wanted to help her be better, and she made him want to be better. She was so much like him, and yet so different—like a version of himself he wanted to become.

He was imagining what it would be like to fly the _Millennium Falcon_ to Takodana and whisk Rey away, when there was a knock at his door. A moment later Han stepped inside. "Hey, kid."

"Are you ever going to stop calling me that?" Ben asked. "I'm not a kid."

"No, but you are _my_ kid." Han cracked a smile, but when Ben did not return it, he said seriously, "I call all my younger pilots 'kid.' Heck, that's what I called your uncle when we first met, and he's only ten years younger than me. I think I'm old enough to call anyone your age that."

Ben sat up on his bed. "Can I help you with something?" he asked tersely.

Han looked at him for a moment, then sat down at the other end of the bed. "Listen, Ben, I know we've never talked much about girls, but if you're serious about this one—"

Ben groaned, covering his face with one hand. "Dad, we had this talk ten years ago—"

"Let me finish; this isn't going to go the way you think." Han wiped his hands on his knees, looking less sure of himself than usual. "See, before I met your mother … I was in love with a girl from Corellia."

"… Okay." Ben had never heard either of his parents mention any romantic partners besides each other, though he had once or twice wondered if they were ever tempted by others during their time apart. Considering that Han was a decade older than Leia, it was not surprising that he had once been interested in someone else.

"I'm not talking about a crush or a little fling," Han insisted. "We grew up together. Her name was Qi'ra. We tried to scrounge enough credits and contraband to run away together. But when we made a break for it … I got out, but she didn't. I could have gone back after her, but she told me to run and leave her behind."

Now Ben was intrigued. "Did you?"

"I did. I don't think I've ever felt so guilty about anything else. I decided to become a pilot so I could fly back there and save her. That was why I joined the Imperial Academy."

Ben was incredulous. "You joined the Empire … for a girl?"

Han looked at him, an emotion crossing his face that Ben could not identify. Then he shook his head casually and shrugged. "You know my heart wasn't in it. That's why they kicked me out. Anyway, I got involved with my first smuggling job so I could get enough money to buy a ship. Actually, that was how I met Chewie—well, that's a long story. But when we met up with this crime boss who was going to hire us, I found Qi'ra working for him."

"Wow. Small galaxy," Ben commented drily.

Han smiled and nodded. "When I asked her how she got out, she said she hadn't. She'd become a lieutenant for Dryden Vos, a member of the Crimson Dawn cartel. I didn't have time to ask her for details, but she said she'd gone through stuff and done stuff that she didn't want me to know about. When I talked about us going off together after the job was done, she said it was too late, that it could never happen."

"So what did you do?"

"We went on a whole slew of adventures—we met Lando and hired the _Falcon_ , liberated slaves and droids, did the Kessel run—"

" _That_ was when you did the Kessel run?"

"And when I met Enfys Nest. There was some double-dealing, some back-stabbing—sometimes literally. When the chips were down, Dryden Vos was going to kill me, but Qi'ra fought him and killed him. She saved my life, and gave me the chance to save Chewie and help Enfys."

Ben huffed, impressed. "She sounds …" He trailed off, unable to find the right words.

Han smiled, nostalgic and almost proud. "I know, right?"

"But then … why didn't you two …"

"That's the part that I still don't understand. Qi'ra saved me and freed herself from Dryden … but she decided to stay in the game. She told me she'd meet us, but she left instead. Later on I heard that she took Dryden's place in Crimson Dawn's chain of command. I never saw her again."

"Why did she do that?"

Han shrugged. "I wish I knew. Or maybe I don't. I'd like to think she loved me, but maybe she wasn't the same person I knew as a kid."

"Does Mom know about this?" Ben asked curiously.

"She knows about Qi'ra. After the battle of Endor, we came clean about our pasts, warts and all. But she doesn't know how … how deep it was. She doesn't need to know."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"I guess the point I want to make is … even if you and Rey sincerely care about each other, things might not work out the way you expect. There might be circumstances that you don't know about, that make things more complicated than you think. A lot will depend on her decisions, and you'll have to respect them even if they're not what you want. And if things don't work out for whatever reason, you need to be able to move on."

He made it sound so easy. Ben looked at his father and asked bluntly, "Did you?"

"Wha—of course I did. I lost Qi'ra, but at the end of the day I had Chewie and the _Falcon_." Han shrugged and smiled. "I guess what I learned was that everyone needs someone. But it's not always who you think you need."

Ben did not respond. Han leaned over and patted his knee. "In all seriousness, Ben, I'm glad you found someone you care about."

"Thanks." Ben actually smiled. "I am, too."


	7. Promises

_Published October 29, 2019_

"Promises"

* * *

"Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the wilderness and speak tenderly to her." ~ Hosea 2:14, New International Version

* * *

It was twilight on Takodana when Ben returned. He had thought about taking the _Millennium Falcon_ , but Han said he needed to clean out some personal items in it and make sure everything was in relatively good condition—or at least functional—before passing it on. Ben decided to trust that this would not be another unfulfilled promise, like so many others his parents had made to each other and to him.

As he made planetfall, it occurred to Ben that he had never seen Rey transform from a porg to a human. The only time he had been on Takodana when it happened, she had been out of his sight. Today would be the first time since then that he was with her at nightfall.

He still was not sure exactly how to go about talking to Rey about everything he needed to—the sorcerer, the party, or their relationship. He only knew that he needed to be there for her—and, if he was honest, also for himself.

Ben spotted some porgs as he walked around the lake, one or two at a time. They looked at him with no more curiosity than usual, until he tried to approach a group of them near the shoreline. Then they started to squawk and either fly inland or swim further into the lake. He guessed they were alerting the others of his presence. He wondered if he would be able to recognize Rey if he saw her, as a porg, among other porgs.

He approached the tree where Rey kept her belongings. "Rey? Are you here?"

Almost immediately he heard rustling from the tree itself, and then a porg poked its head out of the hole. When Ben met its gaze, he realized, for the first time, that its eyes were exactly like Rey's as a human, brown and beautiful.

"Hey," he said softly. "Sorry if I startled everyone."

Rey leapt down from the tree and landed on the ground. Ben bent down on one knee to be closer to her eye level. The porg and human looked expectantly at each other, waiting, wondering. Before Ben could think of something to say, the last of the sunlight faded.

Ben had thought that he knew what to expect. Indeed, as the sun set, the porg's body shimmered and expanded, lengthening vertically. But seeing the porg turn into the human girl was even more awesome than Ben had imagined. She seemed exultant, returning to her human form: she spread her arms out slightly and flexed her hands, as though making sure she still had all the faculties of her human body.

Kneeling before her, seeing her stand in the moonlight, any uncertainty Ben had felt about the nature of his feelings vanished. And when she met his gaze, the way she smiled at him, and the breathless way she spoke his name, gave him hope that her feelings were similar.

She ran to him, and Ben stood and caught her in his arms as she hugged him. For a long moment they held each other, swaying slightly, happy to be together after a long day apart, and not quite ready to sort through everything weighing on them.

He loosened his hold to draw back and look at her. "How are you?"

"Fine," Rey answered quickly. "And you?"

"Fine."

"What are you doing here so early? Not that I'm complaining—I just need to let Maz know if I'm not working."

"I needed to see you. I mean, to talk to you." Ben tried to get the words out quickly without stumbling over them. "I thought maybe, instead of training, we could … just talk. But we can get dinner first, if you're hungry."

Rey nodded and led him by the hand to her tree. She only let go of him so she could retrieve her lightsaber, which she attached to her belt, but when Ben extended his hand again, she slid her hand back into his. They walked together to the castle that way, as if it were the most natural thing.

Ben tried to ignore the knowing looks Maz sent their way while they were in the castle cantina. She grumbled about Ben "stealing" her mechanic and insisted that Rey at least tend to the dishwasher droid before taking the night off. Hoping to stay on good terms with the pirate, Ben slipped a better tip than usual with the payment for their food.

They did not talk about anything of importance while they ate. Somehow they both knew that whatever was worth discussing at length would be better discussed away from other ears.

As they were talking about the different types of food Maz's kitchen staff served, something occurred to Ben for the first time. "I don't think I ever asked—do you eat while you're a porg?"

Rey shrugged. "Only if I'm awake and too hungry to wait until night."

"What do porgs eat?"

"Mostly fish, sometimes crustaceans."

"That doesn't sound so bad. Humans can eat food like that; most would just want it to be cooked first."

"Hmm." Rey made a noncommittal noise as she chewed. Then she swallowed and said, "I think I like human food better."

As they walked back to their usual section of the beach, they gathered dry wood to make a fire. Rey laid out a blanket on the sand for them to sit on.

"So," she said, clasping her hands around her knees. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Um …" Ben avoided her gaze, shifting on the blanket. "There's a lot I need to tell you. But I'm not sure where to start." He tried to think of the most casual news, something to ease into the more important topics. But even the most casual thing he could think of was exciting in its own right. "My father is giving me his ship, as part of a deal we made."

This sparked Rey's interest and something that might have been envy. "Your own ship? That's wonderful."

"Yeah. But I realized that I'm going to need a co-pilot, a first mate. Someone who's good with ships and would appreciate this one in particular—she's pretty special. When I thought about it, you came to mind."

Rey's mouth dropped open in an incredulous smile. "Are you offering me a job?"

Ben took her reaction as a good sign, but tried to caution her, "I don't know if I'd be able to pay you much. I'm not even sure where I'll go or what I'll do. But … you'd be welcome to come for the ride."

After a moment, Rey's excitement seemed to deflate. Her expression became pensive, regretful. "If you were, I'd be flattered," she said politely. "But …"

"But what?"

"I haven't left Takodana since I was cursed. I don't know if the transformation depends on the rotation of the planet, or where I am in relation to the sun. I don't know how the curse will affect me if I leave."

That was something to consider, but Ben did not see it as much of an obstacle. "We can test that, see if going offworld changes anything."

"If I _can_ leave this place without turning into a porg, I should get back to Jakku."

Ben frowned, baffled and a little dismayed. "Why?"

"I've already been away too long."

"I don't understand. What's waiting for you there?"

"No one, now, besides my old boss," Rey admitted. "But I need to be there when my family comes back."

Ben had been on the cusp of understanding her situation after what happened the previous night. When he heard her say those words, it clicked in his mind.

He was silent for a long moment wondering if he should even attempt to have this conversation. Rey was already trapped in so many ways, by her poverty, her inexperience, and her curse. He hated to see her trapped by her very self.

"Rey, I need to ask you something, and I want you to tell me the truth. Not what you believe or what you hope, just what you know."

She looked at him warily, as though she already knew and dreaded what he was going to say.

"In the dream, I saw something that seemed like a memory from your perspective. You were small, and you were upset because someone was leaving you behind on Jakku. Was it your family?"

Rey looked at him, tears forming in her eyes. She swallowed but nodded.

"Did that really happen? Did they abandon you?"

Her voice shook as she answered. "They … left, yes. That really happened." She would not meet Ben's eyes, looking instead out at the lake and the starry sky above, where a few ships could be seen entering or leaving the atmosphere. "I always believed they'd come back."

"How long has it been since then? You seemed pretty young."

Rey shrugged helplessly. "I scratched a mark on the wall every day. But I didn't count them. I don't know how old I was when they left." She laughed humorlessly. "I'm not even sure how old I _am_."

Ben looked at her, trying to seem sympathetic while keeping his own emotions at bay. He felt so much on Rey's behalf, partly because he identified with what she had felt—betrayal, loneliness, disappointment, a fear of never being loved, a clinging hope that the people who were supposed to love you would make up for whatever they had done wrong. He didn't want to make her feel worse, but it sounded as though she already knew the truth. Once she admitted it to herself, she would be free to do what she wanted with her life.

He searched his heart for the right words. "Rey … I don't know how to say this nicely. I don't think there _is_ a nice way to say it. Maybe your family meant to come back, but if that was the case, and were able to, they would have by now. Considering how long it's been … I don't think they're coming back."

Rey did not argue, but her face seemed to crumble, the same way it had last night when she stopped trying to fight her emotions in front of Ben. Tears leaked out from her eyes and trickled down her cheeks.

"I'm not the first person who's told you this, am I?"

She shook her head. "Maz said the same thing, after I found the lightsaber. You probably saw that in the dream too. I just … didn't want to hear it."

"I'm sorry." Ben let a moment pass, then took her hand and squeezed it gently. Rey did not pull away, and after another moment she squeezed back, acknowledging his support.

"If it's any consolation … I know what it's like to be left behind. Or sent away, in my case."

Rey wiped her eyes and looked at him curiously. "Are you talking about your parents?"

"My parents didn't know how to raise a Force-sensitive kid. They feared my power, and had other things to do besides—" Ben broke off, feeling his voice about to crack. He tried to collect himself, clenching a fist as he remembered. "I never wanted to be a Jedi. When I was little, I wanted to be a pilot, like my dad. But since I was so strong with the Force, they sent me to Luke. I'm more powerful than any of his other students, but nothing I do is ever enough. I'm not disciplined enough, not dedicated enough, not selfless enough. I'll never be a Jedi." He surprised himself with those last words, but he immediately knew they were true. There was something freeing about saying them, like the thrill of realizing he could get away with breaking a rule.

Rey studied him for a moment, then asked, quizzically but not unkindly, "Then what are you doing training me?"

"You needed to learn about the Force, to control your power. But that doesn't mean you have to be a Jedi." Ben paused. "Plus … with you, it doesn't feel like a burden."

"Really?" Rey sounded surprised and a little shy. "I could say the same about you. You make it all seem bearable."

"I guess … you make it bearable for me. Coming here these past few days, being with you … it makes me forget about everything else."

Rey blushed at this, and the firelight made her look like she was glowing. Ben wondered if this was the right moment to make a move. But then Rey took a deep breath and spoke. "Listen, Ben. While you were gone, I had the thought that … maybe you shouldn't keep coming here."

He looked at her, trying to figure out what she meant, what she was getting at. "Well … I won't have to, if you come train at the temple."

She shook her head sadly. "I'm still not sure if I'll do that. I don't think I could while the curse is in effect."

"Well, what about—"

"Ben, what I'm trying to say is … I think it's better if we don't keep seeing each other."

He balked. " _What?_ Where is this coming from? Did I do something?" Had the truth about her parents been too much?

"No, no!" Rey was immediately reassuring, turning and kneeling directly in front of him. "It's not anything you did. It's—something happened to me."

"Is it as serious as being cursed by a dark Force-user?" Ben was being sarcastic, but Rey looked at him with troubled, serious eyes.

"I felt him, while you were gone. I heard him in my mind."

Ben stared, his blood turning cold. "What did he say?"

"He knows about you. About our training. And that … we're getting closer. Maybe closer than we expected. Ben." Rey took his hands in hers. "I don't want you to be around if he comes here again. I need to figure out how to beat him before I can think about my future."

That made no sense to Ben. "You'll have a better chance of beating him with my help. If he's trying to intimidate you now, it's because he knows you're a threat." He withdrew his hands from Rey's. "I don't know if this happened before or after you heard him, but earlier today, I was meditating, and I tried to talk find him. I almost made contact before I was interrupted."

" _What?_ " Rey was aghast. "Ben, do you not understand how dangerous he is? I have the lightsaber to keep him at bay, but if you seek him out, open yourself up to him—"

"What? What do you think will happen?" Ben demanded. His anger prickled the way it did whenever Luke expressed doubt in his abilities. "If you're going to be free, you need to find out who he is and what he wants. I thought I could find out."

Rey sounded angry too. "The curse is _my_ problem to solve. Not yours. I'm not your responsibility."

Ben could not hide how much those words surprised and hurt him. "I guess I thought you were, since I've been teaching you."

Rey looked at him with a fierce expression that bespoke several emotions. "You're not my master," she said flatly. Ben's heart sank, thinking she was rejecting him; but then she said, simply and sincerely, "You're my friend. The best friend I've ever had. If you get caught up in this—I couldn't bear it if he hurt you to get to me."

Ben stared, bewildered by the opposing emotions in both himself and Rey. "I feel the same way. That's why I can't stop coming. Even if you weren't in this situation—even if you didn't need a teacher, or have a sorcerer stalking you—I couldn't leave and pretend you don't exist. I …" He hesitated, stumbling over the words in his mind, trying to figure out how to convey the depth of his feelings without frightening her with their intensity. "I care too much about you."

"I care for you too. That's why this is so …" Rey trailed off, her voice cracking.

"So what?"

"Scary." She shook her head, trying not to cry. "You have to understand—since I was little, I've never had anyone I really cared about. Now I have you, and … it's scary, caring that much. I don't _want_ to stop seeing you, but I'd rather that than have you get hurt."

Ben opened his mouth to argue, but then closed it. His father had said he would have to respect her decisions. If he mattered to her that much … should he do as she suggested? She was not actually asking him, just asking him to consider it, saying it might be best—for him, not for her.

Ben had already sought help from Luke, the person most likely to find out how to identify and defeat the sorcerer. Did that absolve Ben of responsibility, or increase his responsibility toward her? If Luke succeeded in finding a way to break the curse, Ben wanted to do everything he could to help; and if Luke was unable to do anything for her, Ben felt he ought to find another alternative.

Suddenly wanting to move, Ben stood up and walked a few paces away from the blanket. He found himself wishing one of his relatives were there to advise him now. What would they want him to do?

Luke already knew about the sorcerer, but he also knew how powerful and capable Ben was. He had not been overly concerned about the danger Ben might put himself in by helping Rey. If his parents knew all the details about her situation, would they have felt differently about him pursuing a relationship with her?

The Skywalkers and Solos had never been ones to turn away from danger. If anything, they were notorious for taking risks, sometimes unnecessary ones. They also valued loyalty, integrity, and freedom.

Ben knew this much: his family would want him to be smart and selfless. Luke would want him to consider what kind of Jedi he would be. Leia would want him to reflect on what kind of person he would be. Han would want him to think about what kind of man he would be. Chewbacca would probably tell him to help his friend regardless any personal risk.

Rey was silent as Ben sorted out his thoughts. She had said what she felt she should say, and now seemed resigned to wait for him to make a decision. She had spent so much of her life waiting—for her family, for a way to break the curse, for some sign that she had a place in the galaxy.

How long would she have to wait for any of those things if Ben left her forever?

He could not back out now. It would not be right for him—as a person, as a man, as a Jedi, as a teacher, as a friend—to turn his back on a fellow Force-sensitive youth in order to avoid danger.

Ben turned back to Rey and took a deep breath. "Look." He held out his hand to her, and when she took it, he pulled her to her feet. "I realize this whole situation is complicated. And I appreciate that you're so considerate. You're selfless, like a true Jedi."

The compliment brought a smile to Rey's lips, though her eyes were still sad.

"You're right that you're more than just my student. I can honestly say you're the best part of my life. And …" Ben hesitated, then pushed the words out in a rush: "I'm falling in love with you."

Rey's mouth dropped open slightly, her breath caught in her throat. Ben swallowed and went on. "I meant what I said last night, that I'll be whatever you want me to be to you. If you just want to be friends, I'll respect that. But I'm not going to leave you to face this alone. Not if you want and need me."

Tears were forming in her eyes again. All at once Rey came forward and threw her arms around him, burying her face in his neck and shoulder. Ben held her tightly, wondering at this reaction. The way she trembled and shuddered told him she was crying. He did not ask why, but did what he had done the night before, soothing her, shifting his arms around her to hold her close.

When her sobs subsided, Rey spoke haltingly, her voice little more than a whisper. "I just … I'm afraid … because I love you too, and I don't want anything to happen to you, especially because of me."

Ben thrilled to hear the words _I love you_ from her, but that treasure was overshadowed by all the other emotions she expressed.

"Nothing is going to happen to me," Ben insisted, "or to you. Look at me."

Rey lifted her head and drew back enough to meet Ben's eyes. She seemed afraid to look at him for too long, lowering her eyes or looking to the side. He cupped her cheek in his hand and wiped away her tears with his thumb. "I'm scared too." In truth, his fear was not quite the same as hers. He was not afraid of what might happen to him if he stayed, but of what might happen to her if he left. To Rey, though, he only said, "But I'm not going to let fear get in the way of us being together. You're stronger than you know, and we're both stronger when we're together." It was the first time Ben had ever felt this brave, because for the first time, he had something to fight for—not something abstract like hope or freedom or peace, but a person, one with whom he could share his life. "If he comes after either of us, then he'll have to take on both of us." He smirked. "And after seeing your progress, I pity anyone who tries to cross us."

Rey narrowed her eyes in disapproval, but could not stop herself from smiling. She put her hand over his, pressing his palm against her cheek. "Okay," she whispered.

"Okay … what?"

"Okay … we can try."

Ben felt a flood of relief, warm with affection and hope. "Thank you." He pulled her gently to himself again, hugging her slight but strong frame. She slid her arms around his middle and rested her head on his shoulder.

After a moment, Ben turned his head, bringing his lips almost to Rey's ear. "Can I kiss you?"

He felt Rey inhale sharply, stiffening just a little, though her arms did not slacken around him. Ben wondered if he should take those words back, if he was asking for too much too soon. He had thought it more respectful to ask for permission than presume …

Rey lifted her head and turned so they were cheek to cheek. "Yes."

"I—" Ben gulped. "If I do anything you don't want, just say so, and I'll stop."

"Just … keep holding me." It sounded like a child's request.

"I will." Ben kept his arms around but took a step back, drawing his head back to see her face. Rey looked … not afraid, but self-conscious.

Ben looked into her eyes for as long as he could as he brought his lips to hers, until he closed his eyes and closed the distance between them.

For an interminable amount of time all he knew was softness and closeness and gentleness—as though every quality he had ever lacked and longed for was contained in that kiss.

Ben would have been content to stay like that, his full lips pressed against Rey's soft ones, his fingers in her hair, their arms tight around each other, their hearts beating against each other. Then Rey's lips parted, and Ben found himself drawn in as she offered more of herself and asked more of him. At first he was the one kissing her, overwhelming her, but then she seemed to rally herself and respond to his movements, which was even better.

It was the first time Ben understood, in a physical sense, the truth of what Luke taught about authentic love, that it was not about taking, but about giving. Rey allowing him to kiss her was blissful, but her kissing him in return was intoxicating. He had never felt so wanted.

His mind went fuzzy, and for a moment he wondered if he was dying of happiness; then what was left of his rational brain told him he needed oxygen. Rey must have sensed it too—he could feel her becoming heavier in his arms.

They broke the kiss, gasping and almost breathing into each other's mouths.

"Rey," Ben rasped. "I …"

Rey kept one hand on his neck but brought the other to his face, cupping his cheek.

"I know."

Ben had heard his parents say that to each other after one of them said "I love you" to the other. It had always seemed like an inside joke, their way of being cocky and arrogant. Now, however, he understood it differently. It was a reassurance that their feelings were understood, that they did not need to express them with words.

Ben pushed her hair back from her face and kissed her cheek. "Thank you," he whispered into her ear.

"No. Thank you."

When Ben pulled back, he was startled to see that tears were falling down Rey's cheeks once again. Ben was pained by the sight of them, wildly wondering what caused them. "What's wrong?" Had that been too much? He had asked, and she had responded with what he thought was enthusiasm.

Rey shook her head and wiped her eyes with the heel of her palm. "I've spent most of my life … just trying to survive. Like an animal. But now …" She smiled ruefully through her tears. "I've never felt more human than when I'm with you. You make me want to be one all the time. I wish I could be, for you."

Her earnestness, her plaintiveness, made Ben's heart feel fuller and more human than ever. He hugged her again, and she clung to him tightly. Ben only pulled back so she could see him as he promised, "I'm going to help you, Rey. Not just with your training. I'll find a way to save you."

He almost expected her to protest again, to express doubt and insist that he not risk himself. But she looked at him with a quiet confidence that was so rarely ever directed at Ben that it took him a moment to identify it: trust.

"I believe you," Rey said.

Training forgotten, they spent the remaining hours of the night sitting on the beach, holding each other. They spoke little, except to ask if the other was comfortable being touched or held a certain way. Such physical affection was new to both of them, something they had longed for without being able to articulate it. Neither of them could have guessed that it would feel so nice to hear someone breathing beside you, to feel their pulse and warmth, to stroke their hair and skin, to feel their arms around you.

"You can sleep if you're tired," Ben said. "I'll watch over you."

"Like you did last night?" Rey quipped.

"I'm not tired now."

"Well, neither am I. And I want to be awake while you're here. And I don't want us to end up sharing a nightmare again."

"Okay, fair enough." The silence that stretched between their words was peaceful. "Can I ask you something personal?" Ben asked after some time.

"Okay."

"Have you … ever been in love before?"

"Of course not."

Ben frowned. He should have felt relieved to hear that, but the way Rey said it seemed strange, as though it were impossible for her to fall in love with anyone, or for anyone to fall in love with her. "What do you mean 'of course not'?"

Rey shrugged. "There was no one on Jakku I could fall in love with. There was no one who loved me or wanted to be with me."

"You didn't have any friends?"

She shook her head, but then seemed to reconsider. "There was a happabore that helped me carry a whole ship to Niima Outpost. And there were some other scavengers who helped me rebuild a ship, before they stole it from me to go offworld. That's the closest I'd come to having friends, until I met BB-8 and Maz." She looked sideways at Ben. "Have _you_ ever been in love?"

"No." The answer came automatically, but then Ben paused, thinking back. "I kissed a girl, once, but it didn't mean anything."

Rey's brow crinkled. "How could it not mean anything?"

Ben sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, partially hiding his face from her. "The other padawans and I were playing a stupid game where we spun our lightsabers and kissed whoever it pointed to. It was more embarrassing than anything else." He lowered his hand and looked at Rey with a serious expression. "I've never wanted anyone the way I want you."

"What way is that?"

"Whenever I'm away, all I think about is what I want to do when I see you. Whatever I do, I want to tell you about it."

A moment of silence passed before Rey spoke. "I have a question for you. It might sound silly, but it's something you should probably think about."

"What is it?"

She looked at him shyly. "Would you still love me if I were a porg all the time?"

Ben considered this briefly, but pretended to mull it over longer. "I'd still love you … but I wouldn't want to hold you and kiss you. At least not like this." He leaned down to kiss her lips. It was slow and sweet.

They were both smiling when they broke apart. Ben brushed a few strands of hair behind her ear. "In all seriousness, Rey … you're cute as a porg, but you're beautiful as a human."

She blushed, and that made her look even more so.

Ben remembered something Luke had once told him, a bit of wisdom from an old Jedi master who had survived Order 66. Master Yoda had told Luke that people were luminous beings, and that physical matter, such as their bodies and their surroundings, was crude and illusory.

Ben had a sudden and certain conviction that the old master had been wrong. Looking at the beauty of the lake and forest and sky, it was clear that the world around them had some innate goodness. As for people, their physical bodies were as good and beautiful and important as the souls within them. They might not even be separate entities. According to Luke, some Jedi became one with the Force when they died, and when that happened, their bodies disappeared along with their souls. Perhaps the body did not mask the soul, but manifested it.

When Ben and Rey touched, it seemed as though their souls brushed each other. Ben wondered if all couples felt this way about physical contact, or if it was more intense for them as Force users. He did not know of any couples in history where both partners were Force-sensitive. He would have to ask Luke if there were any records of such people.

"Now I'm curious," Ben said. "If you were human all the time … would you think about having a future with me?"

Rey smiled coyly. "That depends. Are you going to offer me that job?"

"I don't really want to be your employer. I want us to be partners. Equals. But yes, the offer to join me stands."

"I'll think about it."

All too soon, the sky began to brighten.

"It's almost dawn," Ben murmured.

Rey closed her eyes and snuggled into his chest. "I don't want this to end."

"Being human, or being with me?"

"Either one."

Ben let a moment pass before he ventured, "I can't stop you from turning into a porg … but we don't have to separate."

Rey turned her head to look at him. "Can you stay here?"

"I could … or you could come with me."

She sat up straight and pulled away from him. "Where? To your home?"

"There, or the training temple, or wherever you want. I can protect you."

"You already are. You're showing me how to protect myself."

As they cleaned up their campsite, Ben realized he had completely forgotten about the two things he was supposed to tell her about: his family, and the party. It seemed almost wrong, somehow, to mention them as an afterthought, when they only had a few minutes left to say everything they wanted to say before they parted.

They had come a long way tonight, searching their feelings (Luke would have been proud of that) and talking about their relationship. Maybe such a big revelation as his family should wait. Besides, he wanted to enjoy this period of knowing she loved him just for who he was, not because of his connection with the heroes she admired.

"I'll be back tomorrow. And we'll have a real lesson then," Ben said.

"Alright." Rey smiled at him, trying to be cheerful despite her reluctance to say goodbye. "I love you."

Ben's smile was cheeky. "I know. I love you too." To show it, he kissed her again. She reacted enthusiastically, seeming just as desirous of making the moment last as he was.

They were still kissing when they felt the transformation begin. They both let go abruptly as they realized what was happening. Ben stepped back and watched as Rey shrank and became a porg again.

Her eyes were as large and ostensibly sorrowful as those of any porg, but they were still recognizably her own. He could see the understanding in them.

Ben knelt in front of her, holding his hands out with his palms facing upward. "May I?"

Rey answered with a squawk, which Ben took to be an assent. He cupped his hands and held them out on the ground. Rey came forward on her webbed feet and sat in his hands, which were large enough to hold her securely. He brought her to his chest, one hand under her and another at her back, running his fingers gently over her feathers. She nestled her head against him, trusting and content.

"This won't be forever," Ben vowed. "We'll find a way to set you free." He lowered his head until his forehead touched Rey's top feathers. "I'll do whatever it takes."

* * *

 **Author's Notes**

It's now been over a year since I first had the idea for this story and started researching and drafting it. It's hard for me to believe it's been that long; this still feels like a new project.

If you think they reached the point of professing love too quickly, keep in mind that in the original story, Odette and the prince fall in love in a single night. I stretched it out over a few nights in the hope of making it more realistic and in character, though ultimately it is a fairy tale and should be taken as such.

Something cool happened recently: one of my favorite Star Wars podcasts, What The Force, discussed Swan Lake in their Power of Myth & Symbolism episode "Dark Vs. Divine Union." If you don't already listen to this podcast, I highly recommend it!

I don't think I'll update this again until after _The Rise of Skywalker_ comes out, because that may shape my understanding of Snoke and other Dark Side villains' motives.

Disclaimer: The friends Rey mentions appear in the Star Wars Forces of Destiny short "The Happabore Hazard" and the book _Before the Awakening_ by Greg Rucka.

Ben's thoughts regarding the human body and soul are based on Pope St. John Paul II's teachings, which are today called Theology of the Body. I have another Reylo fanfic, "My Everything," that explores these ideas in the context of marriage. If you have questions or would like recommendations for further reading on TOB, let me know in a review or personal message.


	8. The Invitation

_Published December 31, 2019_

"The Invitation"

* * *

It wasn't so much that they were going to do anything. But Margaret, who lived at the other end of Queens all winter, had no idea that she was a last-row, last-seat kid in school with terrible marks in everything except reading. Margaret didn't know she told lies every other minute. No, she didn't know any of that. That's what made her such a perfect friend. ~ Patricia Reilly Giff, _Lily's Crossing_

* * *

Ben was a well-seasoned space traveler, but even he felt slightly disoriented by the time differences between one planet and another. Now, though, he felt he had gotten the rhythm of day-night cycles on both Hosnian Prime and Takodana. As he entered the Hosnian System, he decided he would have to set two timepieces to keep track of each world's time.

It was the middle of the day on Hosnian Prime when Ben returned, and his fatigue finally caught up with him as he approached his mother's apartment. Finding both his parents absent, he went to his room and went to bed.

His rest was surprisingly peaceful, free of any memorable dreams. When he woke, it took him only a few seconds to remember what had happened the previous night. When he did, the emotions that coursed through him were so intense and so rarely felt by him that it took a moment for him to identify them.

Part of him was incredulous, but more than anything else, he was _happy_. Euphoric, even. Last night had been beyond anything he hoped or dreamed. He had never expected to find someone so special, or to be so special to someone else.

He touched his lips absently, remembering the kisses exchanged, the promises whispered in the darkness. The enormity of it all threatened to weigh him down, but at the same time he felt lighter and more hopeful than ever before.

It began to dawn on him how fragile and precious it all was, and that realization helped him understand why Rey had been afraid. In the austere, utilitarian environment of his mother's apartment, the magic of Nymeve Lake seemed far away, and the love they had found there seemed like a miracle.

Ben could hear his parents in the apartment, a few small rooms away. They would have a thousand questions for him, but he did not think he could adequately debrief them, even if he had wanted to.

He changed into fresh clothes, then braced himself and left his room. In the kitchen and dining area, he found his parents sitting at the table, apparently finishing a meal.

Han's greeting was friendly and casual. "Hey, kid. Wondered when you'd wake up."

Leia got straight to the point. "Did you see Rey?"

"Yes," Ben answered shortly.

"How did it go?"

Part of Ben wanted to be annoyed, to tell them to mind their own business and let him mind his; but he could not stop himself from smiling at the memories, and the fact that his parents knew so little of what had happened only made his smile widen.

"I take it things went well," Han said, more to Leia than to Ben.

Putting it that way was a supreme understatement, which only made Ben feel more amused. He decided to have a little fun while he could. "Do we have any caf?"

"Right here." Han gestured to the pot containing the beverage. Ben took his time getting a cup from the cupboard, filling it and drinking it.

Leia waved him to the table impatiently. "Don't hold us in suspense! What did you do?"

Ben sat and folded his arms on the table, considering the simplest way to sum up such a momentous night. "We had dinner at Maz's, and then we sat on the beach and talked."

"What did you talk about?"

"A lot, actually. I told Rey how I feel, and … she said she feels the same way."

At this, Han looked mildly surprised and impressed, while Leia turned quite serious and asked him to be more precise: "Are you in love with her?"

"I—well—yes."

"And you told her so?"

"Yes."

"And she said she loves you?"

"Do you want a transcript? She has a droid friend I can ask to make one."

Leia laughed. The sound startled Ben—it had been so long since he had heard it, and yet it was jarringly familiar, a sound he associated with his childhood. He exchanged a glance with Han, who shrugged in amusement as Leia's laughter subsided into giggles. "I'm sorry—it's just—if you knew how long it took your father and me to admit—"

" _You_ were the one who wouldn't say how you really felt," Han accused.

"Do you know what he said, when I first told him I loved him?" Leia asked Ben, ignoring her husband. "He said—"

"'I know,'" Ben finished. He had heard bits of the story before.

"It was supposed to be reassuring, when we were about to be separated," Han protested. "And she said the same thing to me when I told her I loved her in the middle of a battle." He lifted his mug and nodded to Ben. "I'm just impressed you got Rey to say it so soon."

"I don't mean to make light of all this," Leia said. She covered Ben's hand with her own, smiling. "I'm glad this is happening for you, Ben. You've been alone so long. I'm glad you found someone who feels that way about you." He could feel the sincerity of her joy, like a glow inside her.

"Thanks, Mom."

Drawing her hand back, Leia asked, "Did you invite Rey and Maz to the party?"

In the midst of so many confessions, revelations, and promises, Ben had completely forgotten about the invitation. "I didn't get around to it. But," he added quickly, "I think she's more likely to come now."

Leia nodded, accepting this answer. "I thought of a wonderful venue: the hanging gardens. And that saves us the trouble of decorating."

It had been years since Ben had visited the hanging gardens, but he remembered their beauty. The atmosphere was cheerful during the day and tranquil at night. The verdure made it the kind of place Rey would love. In fact, Ben would have been happier to show it to her without the party, but maybe after the guests left they could stay there and enjoy it together. "Sure."

"Let us know if Rey is coming," Leia said. "I can't wait to meet her."

That reminded Ben of something very important. "There are … some things you should know about her before you meet her."

"Oh?"

Ben thought quickly but spoke slowly, carefully. "A while back, Rey got tangled up with another Force-user. We don't know who he is, but he's powerful, and cruel, and …" He trailed off, uncertain whether to share how intimately he knew the sorcerer or to get to the most comical-sounding part of the tragedy. He decided to try to avoid frightening his parents any more than necessary. Not that he expected them to be afraid, but the fact that he somehow knew this Dark Side figure might make them and Luke suspicious. Ben tried again. "I don't know how, but he can do things to people—weird things, like turn them into animals. And he tried to do that to Rey."

"Why? What'd she do to him?" Han asked.

"Nothing at all. He just sensed how powerful she was. I guess he wanted to scare her, put her in her place. But Maz helped her, so now the curse is cyclical. She's a normal human girl at night."

"And during the day?"

"She turns into a kind of bird called a porg."

Both of his parents stared at him for a long moment. Han looked about as incredulous as Ben had expected him to be. But Leia, though surprised, was thoughtful. "Sounds like a folk tale," she mused, "but I suppose most folk tales have a grain of truth in them."

"I know it sounds crazy," Ben said flatly. "I didn't believe Rey when she first told me, but I've seen her go back and forth, at sunrise and sunset."

"So that's why you've been coming and going at odd hours?"

Ben nodded. "I need to test whether the transformation still takes place if she's on another planet. If it does, we'll have to work around that to have her at the party."

"Is this … condition … permanent?" Han asked.

"We don't know for sure. We're going to try to find out. I talked to Uncle Luke about it, and he didn't seem overly concerned. He even agreed to help us."

His parents visibly relaxed when they heard Luke was involved. When it came to the Force, and particularly dealing with the Dark Side, there was no one they trusted more than him.

Ben stayed on Hosnian Prime long enough to have a meal, clean his borrowed shuttle (Han promised the _Millennium Falcon_ would be ready for him the following day), bathe, and think about what lesson to give Rey next. Once he came up with an agenda, he gathered some supplies from his room, then flew back to Takodana.

It was an hour or two past sunset when Ben made planetfall. He did not see Rey on the lake, so he went into the castle. He found her repairing one of Maz's food dispensers. He waited without announcing himself until she seemed to be done. When she straightened up, she caught sight of him, and her countenance seemed to light up. Ben could not remember the last time someone had been so happy to see him, and knowing that he was the cause of her joy flattered him more than any politician's empty compliments ever had.

Rey wiped her greasy hands on a rag and leaped smoothly over the counter to join him. If they had been alone in the open night, they would have run to each other; but with other patrons all around and different pieces of furniture in the way, they moved at a moderate pace and met halfway, embracing each other briefly but warmly. Ben pressed a kiss to Rey's cheek before letting her go.

"How was your day?" he asked.

Rey shrugged, still smiling. "Uneventful. I slept for most of it."

"Good. Because we have a lot to do."

"Oh?"

He looked around and then pointed to an empty table. "Let's sit down. We'll need a flat surface for this lesson." He set his bag between them on the bench and took out a carved wooden case. He set it on the table, opened it and took out several sheets of paper, two small containers of ink, and a few brushes.

Rey watched with interest. "What is this?"

"My calligraphy set."

"Which is …"

"Writing supplies. I don't suppose you know how to write, do you?"

Rey tilted her head, curious and reflective. "No, I guess not."

"We finally found something you can't do?" Ben teased. Rey rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. "Hardly anyone does," Ben assured her. "No one uses paper to send messages anymore. Calligraphy takes writing a step further, makes it an art."

"I'm not sure how this ties in with being a Jedi."

"It takes patience and concentration." Ben held out a brush, daring her to accept the challenge. "Do you think you have that in you?"

She saw the look in his eyes, and accepted the brush with a flourish, twirling it like a miniature staff between her fingers. "We'll see."

Chuckling a little, Ben spread out the sheets of paper on the table. He showed her how to hold the brush properly, though he could tell it felt awkward to her. On one paper, he traced each of the letters of the aurebesh alphabet so she could see the brushstrokes needed for each one. Then he showed her how to write the three letters of her name, thinking that would be a good thing for her to practice.

He sensed Rey's frustration at times, but, not wanting to seem impatient or unfocused, she bit her lip and kept trying.

"May I?" Ben reached for her hand but stopped just inches away from it.

She smiled, appreciating his chivalry, holding him in suspense for a moment before she said, "Go ahead."

His hand closed over hers, his fingers aligning with each of hers, and guided her through the motions to write her name. After doing that a few times, he told her to practice on her own. He took a fresh sheet of paper and began to copy one of the digitized texts from the datapad Luke gave him.

When he looked back at Rey's work a few minutes later, he saw that she had stopped writing and started … doodling, if you could use that word when the utensil was a calligraphy brush.

"Rey …"

She giggled and tried to hide her sheet, but Ben managed to wrest it away. He saw that Rey had drawn a picture of BB-8 and of Maz's castle. But in another corner, she had written, _I love you_. Ben tried to give her a stern look, but her cheeky smile made it impossible.

"Will you show me how to write your name?" Rey asked. Then she would be able to address those written words to him.

"Sure." His name was one of the first things he had taught himself to write by hand. The strokes came almost automatically now, without him having to think much about it, except to slow down his movements.

It was only after he had written the first letter of his surname that he realized he still needed to explain it to her. Feeling like it was too late to stop, he wrote the remaining letters and set the brush aside, avoiding her gaze.

"'Solo'?" Rey read, looking at him quizzically.

"Uh … yeah. That's my family name."

"Ben Solo," Rey repeated thoughtfully. "Funny, that almost sounds like Han Solo. Do people ever call you that by mistake?"

Ben met her eyes, staring, incredulous that she could be so close to the truth without fully putting it together. Rey studied his expression, confused by this reaction. Her eyes narrowed, then suddenly widened, and then narrowed again. Ben could almost feel her thoughts moving together, like pieces in a mechanical puzzle.

Before she could say anything, he suddenly stood and began packing away the writing supplies. "Let's go for a walk."

Rey did not object. But as soon as they reached the lakeshore, she turned to him and demanded, "Are you _related_ to Han Solo?"

"Yes," Ben said shortly.

"How? I mean, is he some distant cousin, or—"

"He's my father," Ben said tonelessly.

Rey gaped. Ben could only hold her gaze for a moment; then he found himself looking at her parted lips, and forced himself to look away. Then he heard her laugh. "Ben, that's incredible!" When he looked at her again, her face was bright with excitement. "I've heard stories about him."

"Of course you have," Ben said wryly.

Rey faltered, confused by his attitude. "What's wrong?"

"There's more. Knowing that, can you guess who my mother is?"

"Um … someone else from the Rebellion?"

"Yes. One of its leaders. Leia Organa."

Rey recognized that name. "The princess whose planet was destroyed? Luke Skywalker's long-lost sister?"

"That's the one."

"I didn't know she and Han got married," Rey mused.

Ben grunted. "For all the time they spend together, you might not think they were."

"So … if Leia Organa is your mother, then … Luke Skywalker—your Jedi master—is your _uncle_?"

"Yes."

Now Rey was mystified. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because when we met, you didn't treat me like everyone else does—like I have to live up to them. You looked at me and just saw me." When Rey continued to stare, Ben started to defend himself. "I didn't lie to you. I told you my parents are war veterans, my mother's a senator, and I'm training to be a Jedi. I thought you might figure it out on your own. I _was_ planning to tell you, but with everything going on, well …"

To Ben's astonishment, Rey laughed, clapping her hands in delight. "Ben, this is wonderful!"

Now it was Ben's turn to be surprised. "Um … how so?"

"Of all the people in the galaxy, your family are the ones with the most experience fighting the Dark Side! If anyone can help me figure out how to break the curse, you and your family can."

Ben was not sure how to feel about this assessment. He had wanted Rey to let go of her fear, but he would have preferred for it to be because she had faith in him alone, in his own will and ability, not because of his family's legacy.

"So that ship you were telling me about, that your father is giving you … did you mean the _Millennium Falcon_?"

Ben folded his arms, looking at her with raised brow. "Are you interested in my offer now?"

"Well, I'd at least like to see it. Did it really make the Kessel Run in fourteen parsecs?"

Ben smirked, imagining his father's indignation at hearing such a thing. "Twelve."

Rey shook her head in amazement. "That is ... _this_ is … just when I think it can't get any better, it does."

They walked hand in hand around the castle grounds, over carved stones and hills of earth.

"This does lead to something else I wanted to talk about," Ben said. "We need to test the limits of the curse, see if you can leave the planet."

Rey nodded, but his urgency surprised her. "Is there a particular reason we need to?"

"Yes. As a matter of fact, there is."

She waited, curious. Ben swallowed. Compared to everything he had said last night, this should have felt easy. "My mother is throwing a party in a few days. For my birthday. I want you to come. That is, if you want to."

Rey blinked and suddenly seemed as nervous as Ben felt. "You want me to come—and meet your family?"

"Yes. They want to meet you, and it'll give us a chance to show Luke what you've learned, and ask him to let you come train at the temple."

Rey seemed uncertain. "I've never been to a party in my life. What … what do people do?"

"It depends on what kind of party it is."

"There are different kinds?"

Ben managed not to laugh outright at her ignorance. "Well, what I mean is—it depends on who's throwing it and who is invited. A family might have an informal party with games and activities for kids; a bunch of teenagers might have a kind of free-for-all; but politicians would have a fancy function, like a dinner."

"And what kind of party is this going to be?"

"My mother wants it to be somewhere between semi-formal and formal. She'll probably have music so people can dance."

Rey looked apprehensive at the mention of dancing. "Will I have to do that?"

"You don't _have_ to do anything that you don't want to."

"I mean, will I be expected to?"

"Probably. You don't need to know anything complicated though. Obviously, the kind of dancing that happens depends on what kind of music is playing, how fast or slow, what kind of mood it creates."

"I never heard much music on Jakku. It's not the kind of place where people sing or play instruments." Rey cast a glance at Maz's castle. "They play music during the day, but no one dances."

"I had to take lessons when I was young. You'll just have to follow my lead. If you think you can manage that," Ben added jokingly. He looked at Rey's outfit and added, "We'll also have to find you something to wear."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean—most of the people will be dressed nicely. Not that there's anything wrong with your clothes," he said quickly, "but they're … kind of casual. This will be a little more formal."

Rey tugged self-consciously at the fabric of her tunic. "I don't have anything fancier than this."

Ben cupped his chin in his hand, thinking. "I could ask my mother for help. She'd probably have someone on her staff take you shopping."

"I don't want her spending money on me," Rey protested.

"Well …" An idea occurred to Ben. "Maybe … you could borrow something instead, just for the night. Would that be alright with you?"

Rey considered the suggestion, and finally she nodded. "That sounds fair."

"Of course, all of this depends on whether or not you turn into a porg when you leave the planet."

"Oh. Right."

Ben gestured to the open area where he had parked his shuttle. "Why don't we go on that test flight now?"

"Alright."

Ben held out his hand, and Rey accepted it and let him guide her to his shuttle. There were two seats behind the pilot's chair. He rotated the one on the right and, with exaggerated politeness, gestured for Rey to sit down.

"It's been a while since I was actually inside a ship," she said as she strapped herself into the seat.

"This one is owned by my dad's shipping company."

Rey raised her eyebrows. "So that's what the famous smuggler is up to these days?"

"That, and racing," Ben said casually.

She grinned. " _That_ , I can believe."

Ben felt a little more self-conscious than usual as he prepped for takeoff. Even after everything that had been said and done last night, he still wanted to impress Rey, especially now that she knew he was the son of a renowned pilot. He could not do many tricks with a cargo shuttle, but he could at least not make a careless mistake doing something so routine.

"Are you ready?" he asked, looking over his shoulder at Rey.

"Yes."

"I'll fly low at first, then we'll try entering the planet's orbit."

The shuttle lifted off the ground without trouble. Rey spoke up as they flew over the forest. "It was daytime when I first came here. Before that, I didn't think there was this much green in the whole galaxy."

Ben looked over his shoulder at her. Rey was staring hungrily through the windows, so she did not see the soft expression on his face.

He could not _wait_ to show her the hanging gardens.

Rey was tense as they, drawing further away from the ground. Ben watched her out of the corner of his eye, waiting to see if she would transform. But the human girl remained the same size, even when they passed through the atmosphere and entered outer space.

Ben finally slowed down after they began to orbit the planet. He turned around to face Rey, who was hugging herself. "Well, that's a good sign."

She relaxed and smiled sheepishly. "Yeah."

"I don't think we have time to visit another planet where it's daytime, but we can try that sometime."

Rey unfastened her seatbelt, stood, and came closer to the windows. "Do you get to see this a lot?"

"What? Outer space?"

"Yeah."

Ben shrugged. "Pretty often, I guess."

"It's beautiful."

It had been a long time since Ben had been impressed by the sight of planets near and far, or the rush of light from jumping in or out of hyperspace. Rey was almost like a child, experiencing so many things for the first time. Ben found her reactions endearing, but they also made him feel uneasy, though he did not know exactly why. Maybe it was sorrow that he had stopped marveling, or guilt that he had stopped appreciating all that he was able to experience. Or maybe it was pity for Rey's harsh upbringing.

"You said you taught yourself how to fly. Do you want to try the pilot's seat?"

"Really?"

"Well, if you're thinking of joining the crew of a ship like the _Millennium Falcon_ , I need to see how well you can fly." Ben stood and stepped aside so Rey could take the seat. She approached slowly, looking back and forth between Ben, the chair, and the window.

"Don't be nervous," he said, touching her shoulder. "I trust you."

She smiled and put her hand over his. "I know."

Ben was tempted to kiss her then, but he decided to let her focus on flying instead.

He sat in the chair Rey had vacated. He did not strap himself in, but he wished he had when the ship suddenly jerked forward a short distance under Rey's guidance.

"Sorry!" Rey yelped. "Just getting a feel for it."

"That's fine," Ben said, surreptitiously fastening his seatbelt. It proved to be unnecessary: as he had suspected, Rey turned out to be a competent pilot. Ben pointed out which buttons and levers to use, but she remembered them all after being told only once. She guided the ship back to Takodana and then to Lake Nymeve.

"Easy," Ben cautioned as they made planetfall. Their landing was a little shaky, but overall he found Rey's piloting satisfactory.

"I guess it's official," he said, leaning back in his chair.

"What is?"

"There's nothing you can't do."

"Hmph." Rey laughed, but then she glanced thoughtfully through the window at the lake. "Actually, I thought of one thing I don't know how to do."

"What's that?"

"I don't know how to swim. As a human, that is. I can sort of manage it as a porg. I learned by watching them. But I never had a chance to learn on Jakku."

"No, I guess you wouldn't." Ben glanced at the lake and then back at Rey. "Do you want to learn?"

"At some point, yes. I don't think we have time now." Rey pointed at the sky, which was starting to brighten. "I better get going."

Ben stood and stopped Rey before she could disembark. "I'm going to talk to my parents, and if it's alright with them … I'd like to take you to Hosnian Prime tomorrow. We'll time it so that we leave at night on Takodana and arrive at night on Hosnian Prime." He thought Rey might be more comfortable at the party if she met his parents before then.

She nodded. "Alright. You can call Maz to let me know when you're coming. I'll wait for you then."

Ben smiled gratefully, touched her cheek, and pulled her gently into a kiss. He felt Rey's hands on his neck and shoulder, and when they parted she gave him one more fierce hug. "I love you, Ben Solo," she whispered.

"I love you, Rey." He kissed her forehead once more. "Stay safe."

"You too."

Once she was on the beach, they waved to each other before Ben took off, his mind spinning with the plans he would have to make.

* * *

 **Author's Notes**

I was going to have Rey meet the Solos in this chapter, but each section was getting so long, I thought it made more sense to split it in two, so that will have to wait until next time!

After seeing the impact that _The Rise of Skywalker_ had on the Reylo community, I feel compelled to say that if you are seeking a Reylo story with a happy ending, you may rest assured that I will do my best to deliver one in this story. In the meantime, you may enjoy or find healing in two short stories I've written: "Closure," a canon-compliant post-TROS short story; and "My Everything," a Reylo wedding short story.

I wish you all good health, happiness, and peace in the new year!


	9. Dresses and Dancing

_Published January 30, 2020_

Spoiler/disclaimer: This chapter ends with information about the fate of a character from _Leia: Princess of Alderaan_ by Claudia Gray.

* * *

"Dresses and Dancing"

Light is sweet! and it is pleasant for the eyes to see the sun. However many years a man may live, let him, as he enjoys them all, remember that the days of darkness will be many. ~ Ecclesiastes 11:7-8, New American Bible

* * *

There was a visitor at the Organa-Solo apartment when Ben returned. He sensed him, and smelled him, even before C-3PO trotted up to introduce the guest. "Master Ben, may I present—"

"Chewie?" Ben was surprised by how much joy he felt when he saw the wookiee.

Chewbacca roared in delight and tackled him with a hug. Despite how tall and strong Ben had grown, Chewbacca was still taller and stronger, and he seemed intent on rubbing this in as he held Ben in a headlock and mussed his hair.

"Okay, okay—yes—I missed you too!" Ben laughed as he awkwardly patted Chewie's arm.

"He got the party invitation and decided to come early," Han explained. "Then I mentioned that you're shuttling back and forth between here and Takodana. Think you could drop him off there to visit Maz?"

Ben pushed his hair out of his face. "Sure, I guess."

"Which reminds me …" Han took Ben's hand and pressed something into his palm: the golden dice that usually hung from the cockpit of whatever vehicle Han drove. "I cleaned out the _Falcon_. She's ready when you are."

Ben smiled as he closed his hand around the dice. "Perfect."

Leia and Han were only too happy to cooperate with the plan Ben proposed for Rey's visit, even if it meant meeting at odd hours and sharing family heirlooms. Somehow he was not surprised by how easily they agreed to his requests. He tried not to feel jealous that they were so accommodating for Rey when they rarely went to such pains for him.

He was too anxious to get much sleep in the interval before the visit. He had many hopes for this meeting, some of them almost contradictory. He wanted Rey to get along with his parents, but he also wanted her to see that they were not infallible heroes, just human beings. He wanted to lower her expectations, but he also wanted her to like them enough that she would not mind being connected to them through her relationship with him.

When it was time to go, Ben changed into normal clothes, the kind of practical getup his father wore most of the time. Today, his time with Rey would not be about being Jedi, the original reason they had agreed to meet regularly. Today was about being a Solo—whatever that meant. The name, Ben knew, had been invented by an Empire official when his father applied to the Imperial Academy. But that was the name by which Han and his family were known, and if Rey were to join that family—

Ben stopped himself before his thoughts went too far ahead. Before he could hope for a future with Rey, they had to get through tonight.

He hung the dice up in their customary place before taking the pilot's seat in the _Millennium Falcon_. Chewbacca took the copilot's seat out of sheer habit. After checking the systems, Ben caught sight of Chewie studying him, ancient eyes soft and knowing. "What?"

The wookiee growled, _You look like your parents. It makes this feel familiar._

Ben usually did not like being compared to his parents, but Chewbacca had known his father longer than anyone and had watched Ben grow up. He was also blunt, honest, and did not give compliments often. So Ben knew he meant what he said, and the thought actually—surprisingly—pleased him. Truth be told, at this moment, Ben almost felt like his father—at least, like the person he had once perceived his father to be: capable, confident, adventurous. All he needed was a holster and a blaster, and he would have been able to pass for a smuggler.

Flying the _Millennium Falcon_ was still a thrill, and Ben found himself remembering his conversation with Han at the start of the vacation. Maybe there _was_ a different path he could take. Maybe he really did have a choice about where to go, what to do, who to be.

They had timed this journey so that it was night on both Hosnian Prime and Takodana. Rey, Maz, and BB-8 were waiting outside when they made planetfall. Rey was human and had dressed in her best outfit, wearing her hair down. She was gaping and smiling at the same time, clearly excited but also incredulous at the sight of the legendary ship, which did not look more exceptional than any other freighter.

Ben came down the boarding ramp and stood under the _Falcon_ the way his father often did, with one arm raised up to touch the underbelly of the ship. "What do you think?" he asked with a cocky smile.

Rey almost laughed as she answered, "I can't believe it. _This_ is the _Millennium Falcon_?"

"Not quite what you expected?"

"I mean, I knew it wouldn't be fancy, but I didn't think …" She trailed off, not wanting to sound rude.

Ben laughed at her nervousness. "You can say it: it's a piece of junk."

"Glad to see she's still up and flying," Maz said with a kind of gruff affection.

Both women's eyes widened—Rey's in surprise, Maz's in delight—when they saw the wookiee descending the ramp. Ben quickly made introductions. "Chewie, this is Rey, and I think you know Maz. Rey, this is Chewbacca, a friend of my family's."

Maz laughed. "How is my boyfriend, Chewie!"

Chewie picked Maz up and hugged her warmly. Ben and Rey exchanged glances. Rey mouthed the word _boyfriend_ , a question in her eyes. Ben shrugged and shook his head in response, indicating that he neither knew nor wanted to know what the situation was.

When Chewie set her down, Maz fixed her eyes on Ben, adjusting her goggle lenses to look more closely at him. "So. I hear you're bringing Rey to a party?"

"I am," Ben said, before remembering to add, "My parents said you're welcome to come too."

"Oh? And what do _you_ say?"

"I say the same." Ben still was not sure whether he liked Maz, but he appreciated her kindness toward Rey, and he respected her for it. In fact, if it had not been for her, he never would have met Rey.

 _I'll be your escort if you like,_ Chewbacca offered. Rey giggled, and Ben realized she could understand Wookiee.

BB-8 chirruped, apparently not wanting to be left out.

Ben folded his arms, looking down skeptically at the droid. "Don't you have a master somewhere?"

BB-8 shrank back and lowered its semispherical head, looking dejected. Rey explained, "We've been asking around for BB-8's owner, but we haven't been able to locate him."

"Him?" Ben felt a little paranoid asking, but he could not help being curious, for more than one reason. Neither Rey nor BB-8 had said much about its owner, and the fact that Rey was so close to the droid made Ben wary of this stranger.

Rey looked down at BB-8 and said, "If he finally shows up, maybe we can ask him if you can come too."

Ben hoped this person would not show up until after the party.

Chewbacca growled his thanks to Ben for the ride.

"You're welcome. I'll see you later." Ben held out a hand to Rey, who accepted it gladly and followed him up the ramp. They were almost on board before Ben remembered something and turned around to shout. "Oh—Chewie!"

Chewbacca turned back to look at Ben.

"Don't eat the birds here!" Ben shouted. "In fact, it's probably better not to hunt anything that lives here."

He did not understand all the words that came out of Chewbacca's mouth, but his tone clearly conveyed surprise and protest.

"Just trust me, okay? I'll explain later."

Chewbacca reluctantly assented.

"Thanks!" Ben saluted and quickly ducked into the ship.

Rey was waiting just inside, smiling at his considerateness. But as they walked through the main corridor she voiced a related concern: "Do your parents know about the whole porg thing?"

"Yeah, I explained it to them. I had to, so they'd understand why we have to meet at night."

"How did they take it?"

"Pretty well," Ben said truthfully. "You have to remember, they've seen and heard of much weirder stuff."

"I'm sure that's true."

Ben gave her a quick tour of the ship, pointing out each compartment. It seemed emptier since Han had cleaned out his possessions, though he had left behind some basic furniture and supplies. Rey's interest was almost professional in nature, since she had so much prior experience with old ships.

Finally they went up to the cockpit. After putting in the coordinates for Hosnian Prime, Ben turned to Rey and asked, "How would you like to pilot?"

She looked at him as though she simultaneously could not believe it and was desperate to do it. "Really?"

Ben turned the pilot's chair and gestured for her to sit. Rey's mouth broke into a grin, like a child given free rein in a toy shop. She kissed Ben on the cheek and hopped into the chair.

For a little while they flew within and just beyond Takodana's atmosphere, letting Rey get a feel for the ship. She was delighted by its speed and agility. With Ben's consent and slight encouragement, they flew in weird patterns, loop-de-loops and nosedives that would have seemed like showing off if they had an audience. They kept looking at each other and grinning, feeling mischievous and triumphant and silly and exhilarated.

The actual journey went smoothly, with Ben only occasionally needing to give Rey guidance. He knew all of the ship's quirks and could identify the reasons behind them, while Rey had the intuition to pick up on them and adapt to them. Ben grew increasingly confident that this was the way things should be, that the two of them on this ship would be a perfect arrangement no matter where they went.

"Is this it?" Rey asked when they came out of hyperspace and approached the Hosnian System.

Ben nodded. When they entered the main planet's atmosphere he said, "Welcome to Hosnian Prime."

Rey gaped openly at the cityscape that came into focus as they descended. She had never seen a city, let alone a metropolis like the capital of the New Republic. Even at night, traffic lanes were busy, and beautiful colored lights illuminated the elegant architecture.

"I've never seen vehicles like these," Rey said, staring at the skyways. "Or so many people in one place. Even if there were just one person in each vehicle, each building …"

"The galaxy is a lot bigger than I think you realize," Ben said before he could think better of it.

They docked the _Millennium Falcon_ in its hangar and walked the short distance to Leia's apartment. Holding hands seemed a necessity, since Rey kept glancing around at the tall buildings, the neat walkways, and the cultivated plants, trying to take everything in.

"This is where my mother lives," Ben explained when they reached the building. "My father stays here too when he's not away for work. I just visit during vacations like this one."

"How much time do you have left?"

Ben had to stop and think, counting how many days had passed already. "The last day is the day after my birthday. That's in three days."

"And have you decided if you'll go back to the training temple?"

"Well … I wanted to wait and see what you decide. I want to be wherever you are."

Rey blushed and turned away, trying to hide her smile, but Ben knew his words gave her immense pleasure.

When they entered the apartment, Ben realized he did not sense his parents inside. But C-3PO was there, alone. This was unusual, as the droid usually accompanied Leia or members of her staff when they were working.

"Master Ben." C-3PO stopped and regarded the two of them, registering the arrival of the stranger. "Oh! And you must be Miss Rey." He bowed slightly. "Welcome. I am C-3PO, human-cyborg relations."

Rey looked mildly curious. "You're a protocol droid?"

"Why, yes, miss. Etiquette is my primary function."

"I've never met such a polite droid before."

"Why, thank you." C-3PO was clearly flattered.

"Where is my mother?" Ben asked.

"Senator Organa was delayed but should be here shortly. She sends her regrets that she cannot be here personally to greet you. However, she arranged to have all the Amidala dresses at your disposal." The droid gestured to the hovering rack in the living room that held the dresses in their containers. Then he turned to Rey and said, "You have the senator's permission to try on as many as you wish."

Rey's eyes widened in disbelief, and she looked from the droid to Ben, as though seeking confirmation. Ben guessed she had never been given such access to a collection of any item, much less a wardrobe fit for a queen.

"And Master Ben, there is a list of guests who have confirmed that they will attend your birthday celebration. Though I will be happy to supply you with any relevant information at that time, your mother wishes you to familiarize yourself with their profiles in preparation to receive them."

Ben's mood sank deeper at this. "Great." He had been hoping his mother, at least, would be there to welcome Rey. Though Leia was not the friendliest person, she was far better at hosting guests than Ben was. But he could at least try to make her feel at home.

"Do you want something to drink?" he asked, crossing into the kitchen area. "We have caf, and probably Gatalentan tea."

"Um—tea, thanks." Rey moved slowly through the apartment, taking in the white and gray décor and the bright red painting on the wall. She approached the dress rack in awe. "Whose are these?"

"My mother's. She inherited them from her birth mother, Padme Amidala of Naboo. Do you know who she was?"

"No."

"I guess I wouldn't expect you to. The mark she left on the galaxy was mostly wiped out by the Empire; but she was a renowned politician in her day."

Rey turned to look at him, her brow furrowed. "When you suggested 'borrowing' something for the party … this was not what I had in mind."

"Well, if you don't like any of these, we can go shopping instead." Ben carried two mugs of steeping tea into the living room and set them on the low table. "Go ahead and look. See if you like any."

Rey turned to the rack and put her hand out tentatively, running her fingertips over the fabric of the first dress. It was dark, with many thick layers of fabric. "They're so … _fine_ , and they're not exactly new, if they belonged to your grandmother."

Ben had thought Rey would be excited, as she usually was when trying something new. Instead she looked troubled, almost conflicted.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

She shook her head. "It … it doesn't feel right."

"Why not? My mom's fine with it. They don't all fit her, and the ones that do, she doesn't wear often. She'll be glad that they're getting some use."

"It's just …" Rey struggled to find the words to explain. "I'm … all my life I've been … nothing. At least nothing important." Ben started to protest—how could she believe such a thing?—but she cut in, "When you work with garbage, that's what you feel like. I'm used to scrounging whatever I could find or buy. And you're saying I can help myself to any of this."

Ben was starting to regret this idea. "I didn't mean for it to be a big deal. I mean, I wanted it to mean something, but—"

"No—I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said all that. I don't say this to make you feel bad. I should have said I appreciate this. And I do, truly. It's just strange to me—and your mother doesn't even know me yet. I'm not used to strangers sharing things with me."

"I bet this just feels weird because my mom isn't here to tell you herself that this is okay."

Rey ran her fingers over a brocaded swatch of cloth, then said, "I'll look, but I think I'd like to wait until she's here before trying any on."

Ben nodded. He came up next to Rey and put his hand on her shoulder. When she turned to look at him, he threaded his fingers through her hair. "You aren't nothing, Rey. You never were. Anyone who says so is either a liar or an idiot."

She smiled, and she met him halfway as he bent down to kiss her, wordlessly trying to convince her of the truth, of her innate worth.

They might have carried on longer if C-3PO had not trotted in with the datapad Leia had left for Ben. That was when Ben figured out why the droid had been left here: Leia would not have let him bring a girl home without anyone else around. If they shut the droid down to give themselves some privacy, Leia would find out from the gap in its memory.

As they parted Rey whispered, "Thank you."

"You're more than welcome."

Ben sat on the couch with the datapad and started going through the profiles his mother's intern had compiled. He watched Rey out of the corner of his eye, partly out of boredom and partly out of curiosity. Her face betrayed her reactions to each of the dresses—sometimes amusement, sometimes disdain, and an overall sense of incredulity.

Finally she glanced up at him and said, "Have you actually looked at these?"

"Not closely. Just in pictures and holos of my grandmother, and a few times when my mom wore them."

"Well, no disrespect to her or her culture, but I don't know how women on Naboo could live wearing these kinds of clothes."

"Not everyone on Naboo dressed like that," Ben informed her. "My grandmother was a politician—she was elected queen for two terms, and a senator after that. These were _high_ fashion."

Rey seemed to accept this explanation, but she frowned thoughtfully. "If your grandmother was a queen, and your mother was a princess … then doesn't that make you royalty?"

Ben tried not to bristle at this suggestion. It was not the first time he had heard it, but he did not like hearing it from Rey, who had always treated him like a normal person. "No. First of all, the queenship of Naboo was an elective office. My grandmother was only a senator after that. And my mother was a princess because she was adopted by the queen and viceroy of Alderaan, a planet that doesn't exist anymore. She's only a princess in title, and my father didn't become a prince by marrying her." He glanced distastefully at the datapad, whose list marked which guests were members of the Elder Houses, bearing ancient titles and ceremonial responsibilities that no one cared about anymore. "Some highfaluting politicians might say it's my duty to take up my mother's mantle, whatever that means. But I'll never be the leader that she is, or that my grandparents were."

Rey tilted her head, studying him. "I don't know … I think I could see you as one."

"Hmph." Ben would usually not trust that kind of compliment, but he knew it was sincere coming from Rey. On the other hand, she saw him in a better light than just about anybody else, so she might not be the best judge.

"So where did you grow up?" Rey asked, sitting on the floor near the low table to drink her tea.

"On Chandrila. But my father was from Corellia, and my mother grew up on Alderaan. Her parents were from Naboo and Tatooine. So I have connections to five different planets, not counting this one. But I've never really belonged anywhere."

Rey looked at him wordlessly, trying to understand this. Ben knew she shared his feeling of not belonging, but she had difficulty reconciling that with knowing where one came from. He did not want to seem unappreciative of the thing she so longed for—a family, a history—but he also did not want to seem so different from her. "I guess the _Falcon_ is the closest thing that feels like a home—it's one thing that's been a constant in my life."

"That's nice." Rey smiled crookedly. "It's definitely more homelike that my AT-AT."

Suddenly they heard footsteps coming up to the apartment door. Ben sensed and recognized them: "My parents."

Rey looked as alarmed and nervous as Ben felt, but he tried to be reassuring. "Don't worry. Just act natural."

"What does that even mean?"

He came over and grasped her hands as she stood up. "Just … be yourself."

This only confused her more. "Who else could I be?"

Ben did not have time to explain what he meant, that she was charming without trying to be. Leia and Han were already entering the foyer, both carrying shopping bags and takeout containers. Han's eyes were slightly wider than usual when they saw each other, but he greeted them nonchalantly. "Hey, kids."

"Hey," Ben and Rey said at the same time.

C-3PO came forward as the Solos put down their bags. "Good evening, Senator, Captain. May I introduce—"

"Actually, Threepio, I can introduce," Ben interrupted. He put his hand lightly on Rey's back and led her forward. "Rey, this is Leia Organa and Han Solo. Mom, Dad, this is Rey."

"Hello," Rey managed to say.

Leia smiled warmly and extended her hand. Rey accepted it and immediately felt the strength in the older woman's grip. "I'm very glad to meet you, Rey."

"What she said," Han agreed as he shook Rey's hand.

"Thank you," she said humbly. "It's an honor to meet you both."

"I'm sorry we weren't here sooner," Leia said, addressing Ben now too. "I had to finish a meeting, and then we thought we'd pick up some food. Will you be joining us for dinner, Rey?"

"If that's alright—I don't want to impose."

Ben spoke up, fighting back a smile. "She's just being polite, Mom. She loves a good meal."

It was a pretty informal meal, especially for a senator. Leia and Han had chosen take-out food from an Ivarujari restaurant and buttersweet puffs for dessert. Hearing that Rey had never tried Ivarujari cuisine, Leia warned her, "Ivarujar is a volcanic planet. You can expect most of this to be spicy."

Rey's eyes widened when she took her first bite of noodles, but soon she was eating with as much pleasure as Ben had ever seen. He noticed, though, that her manners had improved since they first met: she used the utensils and her napkin, and was careful not to make a mess.

"Tell us about Jakku," Leia said, as though the desert world was just as interesting and important as any mid-rim planet.

The request caught Rey off guard. "Um … I'm not sure where to start."

"Is there any organized crime? Lately I've had to deal with some cases at work involving cartels."

Rey shook her head. "Not that I know of. Where I lived, around Niima Outpost, everyone's in competition just to get by. I've never seen more than two or three people work together for anything. There aren't enough people who trust each other."

Leia kept the conversation going most of the time, but even Han had a few questions for Rey. "Ben said you're a mechanic. What kinds of ships do you work on?"

"Um … well, I didn't really fix ships. I was a scavenger. There are a lot of star destroyers and other ships left from—well, from the Rebellion."

Leia nodded. "Of course. That was where the final battle against the Empire took place."

"I searched wrecked ships and sold the parts I found. But I am good at fixing things, so Maz gives me odd jobs."

"She's also a great pilot," Ben posited. "She taught herself with a video simulation."

"Really?" Han looked surprised and impressed.

"She flew the _Falcon_ here," Ben added. That was a mark of both Rey's skill and Ben's trust in her.

Han's eyebrows shot up as he looked from Ben to Rey. "You?"

"She's a natural."

Rey was clearly not used to having so much attention on herself. She tried to deflect some onto the others. "Ben showed me how. He's a pretty good teacher. And co-pilot."

"I'm glad to hear that," Leia said, smiling at Ben.

Rey looked between Leia and Han sand said, "On Jakku, I heard some stories about you, but I never knew how much was true."

"What would you like to know?" Leia asked.

Rey thought for a moment and ventured, "Did you really slay a Hutt?"

Han almost choked on his drink; he turned aside, snorting and laughing. Ben also had to hold back a smile.

Leia's answer was prim and matter-of-fact. "I've never heard it phrased that way, but yes. I killed Jabba the Hutt."

Rey was wide-eyed. "That's _amazing_. How did you do it?"

"Well, I was chained to Jabba the Hutt, and when he was distracted by Han and my brother making a break for it, I strangled him with the chain."

"But aren't the Hutts huge?"

"Yes, compared to humans, they are."

"She may be small, but she's stronger than she looks," Han chimed in, just as proud of his wife as Ben was of his girlfriend.

Ben thought this sounded a little too much like the way his father often described the _Millennium Falcon_. Han's taste in ships was not unlike his taste in women. But that description also sounded fitting for Rey … which meant, in one respect, Ben had the same taste as his father. The thought made him uncomfortable.

For most of the meal Ben sat quietly and watched Rey interact with his parents. One moment he felt included in the conversation, but the next he felt somehow detached, as though he were only observing rather than participating.

What he saw seemed like a vision of an alternate timeline, one in which his parents had a daughter instead of a son. They were so easily pleased with her. Why were they never satisfied with him?

It was clear that Rey belonged in their family. But did Ben?

There had been times throughout his life, particularly in his adolescence, when he had suspected his family would be happier without him. The thought came to him now, but this time he had something to counter it: he was the reason Rey was there. She was there for him, not his parents. He clung to this truth, even as he saw how well she got along with his parents without any help from him.

"Do you know how to play sabacc?" Han asked Rey when they were almost finished eating.

"No," she answered.

"Well, if you want to learn, I'm one of the best."

"That's true," Leia said, "but that might have to wait. We still need to talk about clothes, don't we?"

"Oh—right." Rey had relaxed during the meal, but coming back to this topic made her nervous again. She followed Leia to the rack in the living room, still in earshot of Ben and Han. "So—Ben was saying—these dresses belonged to your mother?"

"Yes. I only know her from the things she owned, and the stories told to me by people who knew her. These gowns were kept on Naboo for many years after her death, and eventually found their way to me." Leia ran her fingers through the tassel of one dress. "These matter to me, very much. I like to think of my granddaughter wearing them—if I ever have one."

Ben felt warm at the implication of those words.

"Are you sure it's alright for me to borrow one of them?" Rey asked.

Leia nodded. "Absolutely. Are there any you want to try on?"

"Um … I saw a few I liked." Rey pointed out the ones she had set at one end of the rack.

"You can change in my room. Ben, why don't you help your father clean up?"

Ben caught Rey glancing back at him and gave her an encouraging nod. She followed Leia, both of them carrying a few dresses.

Rey and Leia stayed in the bedroom for a while, long enough that after they cleared the table Han got out a deck of sabacc cards. "You remember how to play?"

Ben smirked. "If I forgot, Lando wouldn't let me live it down."

"Neither would I."

They played until Leia poked her head out of her bedroom and called down the hallway. "Ben? I think we found the one. Do you want to give input, or be surprised?"

"Uh—whatever Rey wants." Ben did not expect to have much of an opinion, and he wanted Rey to choose whatever made her feel comfortable.

Leia disappeared behind the door, and the men could only hear some hushed tones, followed by an audible, "Come on, dear." Leia held the door open as she coaxed Rey back into the main area. Ben put his cards face-down on the table before standing and turning to look.

Rey walked in slowly, shyly. She wore a yellow and pink halter dress with a metallic collar. Its sleeves hung like drapes from her neck and forearms, leaving her back, shoulders, and upper arms bare.

Ben gaped. He had thought before that Rey was, overall, good-looking, often cute and sometimes quite beautiful. But in Padme Amidala's regal attire, she looked positively stunning. Gorgeous. There might not be adequate or numerous enough words to describe it.

"Nice choice," Han said, sounding appreciative. It was unclear whether he was commending Rey's dress or Ben's partner.

Rey smiled in thanks, but her eyes were inevitably drawn to Ben. "I know it's different," she said softly, lifting one of her arms to look at the fabric. "But I like the colors. It reminds me of sunshine."

Ben approached her slowly. "Rey …" He shook his head, at a loss for words. All he could do was marvel. "You look amazing." If his mother had not been present, he would have said she looked like a princess.

Rey blushed at the compliment, looking down self-consciously. Ben took her hand gently and bowed to kiss it. They lifted their heads at the same time, their eyes meeting in awe.

They did not see the look Leia and Han exchanged, which communicated more than words could express.

"Do you think I'll be able to dance in this?" Rey asked, turning back to practical matters. She turned and indicated a train of fabric that trailed on the floor behind her. "I'm a little worried I might trip."

"That … could be tricky," Ben considered.

"We could pin it up," Leia suggested. "Or …" She looked thoughtfully at Rey. "You know, if you'd like something simpler, I might have just the thing." She walked swiftly to her room, and returned a minute later carrying another dress, one far lighter than the others. "What do you think of this?"

Ben tilted his head. "That's … not one of the Amidala dresses, is it?" The dress was far too simple for a queen or even a senator of Naboo—unless, perhaps, it had been a disguise. It was pale brown with white sleeves, its hemline falling just below the knees. It looked, in Ben's estimation, like something a peasant would wear—someone who lived in a rural community or natural environment. But it seemed to suit Rey, with colors and textures similar to the clothing she usually wore.

"No, that only ever belonged to me. It was a gift from the ewoks on Endor, the night before we destroyed the second Death Star." Leia smiled nostalgically, exchanging a glance with Han. "That dress holds many memories."

Rey looked at the dress with genuine interest. "Can I try it on?"

"By all means."

Rey returned to Leia's room, and came out wearing the dress a few minutes later, beaming with happiness. She looked far more comfortable in the Endor dress than any of Padme Amidala's gowns. She wore her own pants under the skirt, which split at the sides to allow her legs more movement. "I think this is the one," she said.

Ben smiled. "I like it," he said truthfully. Now Rey looked less like a goddess he could worship, more like a girl he could hold in his arms.

C-3PO spoke up. "If I may say so, Miss Rey, that dress was the best available on Endor at the time, but for a party attended by notable military and government officials, one might be somewhat underdressed in such attire."

"By whose standard? Varish Vicly's?" Han asked. "The Jedi kids won't be much fancier. I know I won't be."

Leia shot him a disapproving look.

"This'll be easier to dance in, too," Ben said. He held out a hand to Rey, thinking to spin her around, but she just stood there and looked between his hand and his face.

"I've never danced before," she confessed.

"You've never single-handedly fought a sorcerer before, either."

"Yeah, but this is _scary_."

Leia scoffed. "Dancing is easy." She turned to Han and said, "Let's show them."

He blinked. "What, now?"

"Better now than at the party, don't you think?"

"I guess that's true."

Leia called out to the droid. "Threepio, put on some music. Something upbeat."

A moment later, music played through the nearest computer. Leia gestured to the others. "Here—Ben, you're with me; Rey, you can borrow my husband."

Han glanced apologetically at the younger couple. "Sorry I'm not much of a dancer," he told Rey.

"I'm not sure I'm much better," Ben said with a shrug.

Leia reached up and put her hands on her son's shoulders. "Don't you remember me teaching you, years ago?"

"Vaguely. I think you ended up carrying me." The memory was almost laughable now that Ben was so much taller than his mother.

"Now he can probably carry you," Han quipped. All four of them laughed at that.

Leia talked them through some basic steps, switching periodically between Rey and Ben.

"It's sort of like a martial art drill, except you work together instead of against each other," she said.

Ben tried to go with that analogy when he finally had Rey in his arms again. "Pretend we're sparring with lightsabers. Or staffs. Whichever you prefer."

Rey's smile was almost coy. "So, to dance, we hold each other, or pretend to fight each other? Or both?"

Ben grinned. "Something like that."

"Sounds right to me," Han said.

The comparison must have worked, because soon Rey was moving more confidently, keeping time with the music and moving in tandem with Ben.

"Maybe we'll practice this instead of dueling," Ben mused.

Rey stopped and gave him a playful shove. "Hey!" he said reflexively, pretending to nurse a wound. "I was kidding!"

She laughed. "I know."

When Leia was satisfied that they could dance reasonably well, Rey changed back into her own clothes. She left the Endor dress with Leia, who insisted that Rey could still change her mind about her outfit if she wished. Rey would have to stop by before coming to the party.

They managed to get in a few rounds of sabacc, with Ben and Rey playing as a team since Rey was just learning the game. There were accusations of cheating on multiple sides, which Rey found hilarious.

When it was time for Ben to drop off Rey and pick up Chewbacca, they were all reluctant to say goodbye.

Han came up to Rey with his hands on his hips. "I've been sitting on a question all night. I didn't want to make you uncomfortable, but I'd like to know …" His eyes flickered to Ben, then back to Rey. "Is the whole porg thing true?"

Ben and Leia tensed, but Rey looked back steadily and answered simply, "Yes."

He nodded slowly. "Okay. I just wanted to make sure Ben wasn't hoaxing us."

"I'd show you, but I didn't want to make you stay up until dawn."

"No need. I believe you guys." He smiled and clapped Rey on the shoulder. "Thanks for coming."

"Thank you for having me."

Leia took Rey's hands in her own. "Rey, if you ever need anything, you can call on us. You're welcome here anytime."

Rey was taken aback once again by such generosity, but she managed to answer, "Thank you. Thanks—for everything."

Leia and Han watched from the doorway as Ben and Rey walked out arm in arm. Han put his arm around Leia, and she leaned into him. "That was nice," Han said.

"She's lovely," Leia agreed, sounding wistful. "She seems perfect for him."

Han noticed her tone and glanced down at her. "Something wrong?"

Leia shook her head. "I was just thinking back to when I was like that."

"When were you like that?"

"Before I met you. Before the war really began."

Then Han remembered. Years ago, they had told each other about their histories. Leia had told him about her first love, someone she knew as a teenager. "What was his name again?"

"Kier," Leia said softly. "Kier Domadi of Alderaan." Falling in love with him had been easy. Losing him had been devastating, her first time experiencing grief. It had been all the worse because it was her fault, in more ways than one.

After losing him, and then her parents, her people, and her planet, it had taken a lot of courage for Leia to acknowledge and act on her feelings for Han.

She was glad to see Ben and Rey so happy together, and hoped with all her heart that they would never experience such loss as she had.

* * *

 **Author's Notes**

Disclaimer: Various things mentioned in this chapter were drawn from Claudia Gray's novel _Bloodline_. Leia's lines about Padme's wardrobe are taken from the Poe Dameron #24 comic. Rey's lines about dancing are from Jason Fry's novelization of _The Last Jedi_.

Thanks Dream Plane and El Droide for your enthusiastic reviews! If you haven't already, I highly recommend you check out the What the Force podcast, especially the episode "Dark vs. Divine Union," which explores the kind of dynamic seen in _Swan Lake_. allgirlsareprincesses has an excellent meta "Lucas and the Lost Bride: Swan Maidens in Star Wars" on Tumblr. I have a question for El Droide: what parallels are there between Star Wars and other ballets?

I've been trying to update this story every month or two, but it might take longer from now on, since I'm trying to work out how to execute the rising action and climax. These last few chapters have been a kind of peaceful interlude before things get dramatic and suspenseful. I also will probably take a hiatus during Lent. Take care until next time!


	10. Universal Music

_Published May 8, 2020_

"Universal Music"

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"Beg the Lord of heaven that mercy and protection be granted you. Do not be afraid, for she was set apart for you before the world existed. You will save her, and she will go with you." ~ Tobit 6:18, New American Bible

* * *

Rey was still humming the music from the apartment as she and Ben walked hand-in-hand through Republic City.

"That went better than I expected," Ben reflected.

She glanced at him curiously. "What _did_ you expect?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. I mean, I didn't think it would be disastrous, but I didn't expect it to go so well. It felt like … you really belong here with us." As he said this, his earlier thoughts resurfaced in his mind.

Rey fit in with perfectly with his family. Why did he not?

Or was he wrong about that? Ben, Han, and Leia had coexisted peacefully for the past several days. Granted, Ben had been either offworld or asleep most of the time; but when he was present and awake, they had only argued once, and had some rather vulnerable conversations, and his parents had taken him seriously.

"I don't understand," Rey said, pulling him out of his musing.

"What?" Ben looked at her. "What in particular do you not understand?"

"Almost every time you mentioned your parents, it was to complain about them. But they're probably the nicest people I've ever met!"

Ben tried to smile. Of course she would think so. Leia and Han had put their best foot forward tonight—not the way they would have for a politician or a gambler, but for a girl who needed parental figures and a place to belong.

Maybe Rey's presence had helped them get along better tonight. Maybe she was what that had been missing from Ben's life to help the rest of it make sense. Or maybe she just helped him look at things from a different point of view.

Whatever the reason, it was clear that she was a good influence on not only Ben but all the Solos.

"I don't think any of us have had that much fun in a long time," he said, thinking of the takeout, tall tales, dancing and card-playing.

Rey looked at him, a wrinkle between her eyebrows. "Then why do you sound so sad?"

She was perceptive. Or maybe she had become particularly attuned to Ben through the Force.

He tried to find the words to explain without making Rey feel bad or casting his parents in a bad light. "We used to have days like this—spending time together, sometimes with Chewie or my uncle. I don't know when or why we stopped. It just doesn't happen anymore. But they did it for you. I guess … I wish they had kept doing it for me."

Rey did not know what to say to that. Ben wished he had turned the conversation in a better direction. He wanted this night to end on a good note.

An idea occurred to him as they stopped at an intersection for ground-level traffic. He turned to Rey and asked, "Do you mind if we make one more stop?"

"Where?"

"The party venue. I want to see your reaction to it before it's full of people." It would be nice to be able to enjoy the gardens with just Rey, without any of his father's embarrassing friends or his mother's stiff colleagues vying for his attention.

Rey smiled slowly. "Okay."

Ben led the way, not toward the hangar where they had left the _Millennium Falcon_ , but toward the outskirts of Republic City. They never lacked for things to talk about on the way: Ben pointed out the landmarks they passed by, and Rey was full of questions about things like power sources and public transportation. Even at night, when there were less people about, there was still a fair number of vehicles on land and in the air, and the buildings were lit like their own constellations under the sky.

The pyramid was hard to miss, even from a distance, as it was so different from the modern buildings, made of sandstone and covered in greenery. Even in the relative darkness of the night, the different shapes and textures of plants were visible.

"What is this place?" Rey asked.

"The hanging gardens. They're a public garden." Ben walked up confidently to the entrance. A security guard stepped out and blocked his path.

"The gardens are closed after midnight," the guard informed him.

"Is it that late already?" Ben asked, feigning ignorance.

"Ben, what are you doing?" Rey whispered, coming up behind him.

He glanced over his shoulder, smiling, and winked at her. "Watch and learn, padawan."

"Move along," the guard barked.

Ben turned to him and did something he had not done for a long time: he raised his hand and, with a small sweeping gesture, intoned, "It's alright for us to be here."

A blank look fell over the attendant's countenance. "It's alright for you to be here," he repeated.

Ben repeated the gesture. "You will let us in for ten standard minutes."

"I will let you in for ten standard minutes." The guard stepped aside to let them pass.

"Thank you." Ben took Rey by the arm and led her through, then added as an afterthought: "And you will turn on the artificial lights."

"And I will turn on the artificial lights."

When they were about a hundred yards away, Rey made a sound that was something in between scoffing and laughing. "So it's true—you can use the Force to control people?"

"It only works on the weak-minded. Which is why it's important to strengthen your mind through meditation and other disciplines."

There was a loud noise like a crank or a lever, and then the lights came on gradually, increasing slowly enough that their eyes could adjust.

Rey gasped when she saw the boxes of plants lining the ground floor and the towering trees in the center of the pyramid. She was used to the scenic lake and forest on Takodana, but she had never seen such a lush environment as the one inside the hanging gardens.

"This place is gorgeous!" she breathed.

"You should see it—" Ben started, then broke off and amended, "Someday I'll show it to you during the daytime. Or earlier in the evening—there's a café where we could eat."

Rey walked over to the trees, touched the bark and looked at the blue flowers. Then she turned in a circle, taking in the perimeter and the upper floors that overlooked the central area.

"There are more plants on each level," Ben said. "The mind trick wears off fairly quickly, so we can't stay long, but—"

"It's beautiful." Rey turned to him, put her hand over his heart, and stood on her toes to kiss him. "Thank you. Thank you for everything tonight."

Ben kissed her back, briefly, and then hugged her. He wished they could stay that way the rest of the night, alone in this sanctuary. It seemed a thousand times more preferable than a party.

They quickly covered the ground floor, darting between the trees and noticing which plants were still flowering at night. More would be in bloom during the day, Ben promised.

When Rey leaned over to sniff some blue flowers that had closed their petals, she met an unexpected delight: several luminescent insects emerged and flew around her. They had large but thin wings that glowed blue, almost like a lightsaber's hue.

"What are these things?" she asked, enchanted.

The sight brought a nostalgic smile to Ben's face. "They're called butterflies." He held out a hand, his palm facing up, and one of the blue insects landed on it.

"Where do they come from?"

"I'm not sure where they're from originally. But I know where these ones are from. I'll tell you on the way back."

They slipped out before the ten minutes were up, not wanting to test how long the mind trick would hold the guard to his word. On the walk back to the hangar, Ben regaled Rey with the story of finding the butterflies.

"My dad and Chewie found them being … farmed, I guess. They secrete a kind of crystal that's valuable on some planets. I stowed away on the _Falcon_ , so I was still free when Dad and Chewie were captured. I saved the butterflies from the farmers, and they helped us get away."

"How?"

"They look fragile, but they're strong, and when they band together, they can lift heavy weights. They carried me—of course, I was smaller then—"

Rey snorted, apparently having trouble picturing Ben as being small. But she hung on to his words as he told her about the chase, how he took the controls while Han and Chewbacca shot their pursuers, and how satisfying it had been to open the butterflies' cages. She was more enraptured by the story of smugglers than she had been by the Jedi texts.

Maybe she was right to be hesitant about joining the training temple. Maybe she would be happier with the adventurous lifestyle of a smuggler.

"I think I'd better pilot," Ben said when they reached the _Millennium Falcon_. "It might be daytime on Maz's side of Takodana by the time we get there."

"Oh. Right." Rey sat down in the copilot's seat.

They did not talk as much during the journey. Ben thought fatigue was finally catching up with both of them, after a long, happy night. But he sensed a shift in Rey's mood. She had been cheerful throughout the visit, but now she was pensive, almost brooding.

She did not voice her thoughts until they were approaching the system. "The other night, you said I'm the best part of your life."

"That's true."

This answer seemed to mystify and almost frustrate Rey. "How can you say that when you have so many other good things in your life? You have hundreds of paths you can choose from, and the resources to become whatever you want. You have a family, and yes, they happen to be some of the most legendary people in the galaxy, but they're also just good, decent people. And if you can be that dissatisfied and resentful toward them … how do I know you won't feel that way about me, someday?"

Ben was dumbfounded. "How can you think that?" Did Rey really think herself so unlovable, or did she doubt the strength or sincerity of his feelings?

"Look, it's not that I don't think you mean well. It's just—well, _my_ feelings toward you have already changed since we met. Remember, after you almost shot me?"

Ben winced, realizing how close he had come to killing her, and remembering how cold she had been toward him.

Rey nodded. "You see my point. At that time, I couldn't have imagined falling in love with you. Things change—people, feelings, relationships."

Ben thought about this. "That's true. But we can choose whether to act on our feelings, whether to commit to relationships." He reached out and took her hand. "And right now, I'm choosing this one."

She looked from their hands to his face, softening somewhat. Ben leaned over and kissed her cheek, then her hair, and finally her lips, wordlessly pledging, convincing.

She kissed him back, but it felt like they had already lost some of what they had felt that first night—that innocence, that trust, that willingness to take a risk.

"Trust me," he whispered.

She smiled against his lips. "I do."

It was indeed still day when they approached Maz's side of the planet, though the sun was low in the sky. There might be only an hour left of daylight, perhaps less.

Ben sensed something as they descended. "Do you feel that?"

"I feel something," Rey said, frowning. "It feels …"

"Cold," they said at the same time. They looked at each other, and then Rey looked down at her body just as the transformation began. A moment later she sat in the chair as a porg.

Ben considered reversing course. If that cold feeling was an indication of the sorcerer or someone else of the Dark Side, the last thing he wanted to do was bring Rey there, especially when she was a porg. But he had to pick up Chewbacca, and he still wanted to see if he could talk to this person.

"Let's get you to Maz, alright?" He looked to Rey for permission. She made a short sound like a chirp, which Ben guessed was agreement; disagreement would have elicited a stronger reaction.

He checked his belt for his lightsaber, and then realized he had not seen Rey's that night. "Did you leave your lightsaber behind?"

Rey shrank back sheepishly. Ben fought back the urge to sigh. He supposed he should take it as a compliment that she trusted him to protect her, enough that she left her weapon behind.

He landed the _Millennium Falcon_ as close to the castle as possible. "Wait a moment," Ben told Rey before stepping out of the cockpit. He went to a storage compartment and found just what he needed: a holster and a blaster. He had just enough time to arm himself before Rey flew over. It probably would not do much good against someone skilled with the Force, but it was something he could do to feel more prepared.

He picked up Rey and carried her close to himself as he disembarked. They both scanned the lakeshore and forest as he hurried up the steps to the castle entrance.

As soon as they were inside, Maz and Chewbacca were upon them. Maz confirmed Ben's suspicion that she was Force-sensitive when she asked them, "Do you feel it too?"

"Yes. Do you have Rey's lightsaber?"

"Yes."

Chewbacca interrupted them with a question, indicating Ben's burden.

"That's Rey," Ben informed him. "Maz, can you take her?"

The Wookiee looked at them in consternation. "This is normal for her," Maz reassured him.

"I need to check on something," Ben said. He set the porg on the closest empty table. "Rey, stay with Maz and Chewie."

Rey squawked in distress.

"I'll be fine," Ben insisted.

Maz slid magnifying lenses into her goggles to peer at him. "I know that look, Ben Solo," she remarked. "Your father has it too."

"What look?"

"The look that says you mean business."

Ben looked between the pirate and the porg. "Do you trust me?"

Maz looked at him skeptically. Chewbacca said something ambivalent. Rey still seemed agitated.

Ben shook his head. "Look, just—keep her safe if anything happens while I'm not around. I'll be back in just a little while."

They did not move or protest as he turned to the doors. He paused to cast a backwards glance at Rey and her temporary guardians before he slipped through.

Twilight was coming upon Takodana. Ben walked slowly but steadily alone the lakeshore, glancing around at the lake, forest, and sky. He could sense the cold more strongly outside, along with a heaviness that made his heart beat harder, as if from exertion.

He had not gone a quarter of the way around the lake when he heard something in the trees. He stopped and waited, his hands hovering over his lightsaber and blaster.

Nothing.

"I'm here," Ben said loudly, trying not to feel foolish. "We didn't finish speaking last time."

Then he did hear something: laughter, quiet and rough. "I'm glad you sought me out."

Something moved that reflected light in the shadows between the trees: a gold-tinted fabric. Then the person wearing the golden robe emerged and stepped out onto the beach.

It was the same person Ben had seen clearly in Rey's dream. He was even taller than Ben, whose height was considerable for a human.

The sorcerer regarded him with a smile, somehow seeming both satisfied and hungry—as though a plate bearing his favorite meal had been placed before him. "Young Solo."

He already had one advantage: he knew who Ben was, while Ben was mystified as to his identity. "Who _are_ you?"

The sorcerer laughed, and when he spoke, his voice was smug. "Soon everyone in the galaxy will know my name. But, since you were obliging enough to grace me with your presence, I will tell you now: I am Snoke."

"I know you, don't I?" Ben pressed.

"Yes, of course. And I've known you, Ben Solo. Since you were a babe in the womb. But now … look at you." Snoke's voice dripped with a mixture of curiosity and disgust as he looked Ben over. "What has happened? You used to be brimming with raw, untamed power. Now, everything that fueled it is … tempered. Ever since you encountered _her_."

Ben did not need to ask who he meant. He clenched and relaxed his hands at his sides, willing himself not to strike prematurely.

"You have compassion for her." The sorcerer sounded disappointed by this fact.

"So what if I do?" Ben retorted.

"Compassion, sentiment … these are the things that will hold you back."

"From what?"

"The power you could wield. The control you could have."

Ben did not reply, but his mind raced, even as he tried to shield his thoughts in case Snoke tried to probe his mind. Looking back on the past several days, he realized that he had felt more in control of his powers than he had ever been. Training Rey helped him focus, and her presence calmed and amused him in turns.

"Maybe I wouldn't feel so much compassion for her if you hadn't cursed her," Ben suggested.

"Perhaps not." Snoke tilted his head knowingly. "Or perhaps you would. After all … you hesitated to shoot her as a porg. A mere animal."

How could he have known that? Then Ben remembered the voice that had urged him to kill his quarry. Ben felt almost nauseous as he realized what those words meant. He had thought he imagined the voice egging him on. "You wanted me to kill her."

Snoke's tone became derisive, irritated. "One shot with a bowcaster. That's all it would have taken."

Fighting with all his might to control his temper, Ben demanded, "Why do you torment her like this? What did she ever do to you?"

Snoke countered him: "Why do you coddle her? What can she offer you?"

Even as Ben tried to formulate an answer, he realized it would not be wise to share it. He settled for something vague but truthful: "More than you ever could."

Snoke smiled, as though they were playing sabacc and he knew which cards Ben was holding. "She does have a great deal." He stepped to the left, circling Ben, who turned on the spot to keep him in sight. "Her power is enticing, isn't it? Like yours—yet the opposite." He gestured to Ben. "I knew as you grew stronger, your equal in the light would rise. I assumed it would be someone else in your bloodline. It seems I was mistaken."

That made it sound as though Ben was strong in the dark side of the Force, and he and Rey were … _intended_ for each other. Like they needed each other, as though one without the other would be incomplete, unbalanced.

"Yes," Snoke said, confirming his unspoken thoughts. Ben realized, too late, that Snoke could sense his thoughts even without a direct, painful mind probe. Luke and sometimes even Leia had demonstrated such intuition, to varying degrees, but never so clearly. "You have even helped her grow in her own power, and in a short time. You are both truly remarkable."

The compliment did nothing to flatter Ben. "You're a coward, you know that?" he spat. "You hide because you know how powerful my family and I are. You cursed Rey so you'd never have to compete with her power."

He was satisfied to see Snoke's anger pique at this, his nostrils flaring, the Force swirling more darkly around both of them. He reminded Ben of water stirred by a strong wind above or a monster hiding below the surface.

"If I'm wrong, prove it," Ben challenged. "If you're not afraid, undo what you did to Rey."

Snoke stopped and seemed to appraise him once more. Ben tried not to flinch as Snoke stepped closer, his eyes seeming to penetrate deeper than even Maz Kanata's. "And what will you do for me?" he breathed.

Ben's heart had an answer ready: _Anything_. But his mind knew better than to say so. Han and Leia had taught him one rule of bargaining: do not show how much you truly want or need something.

He tried to imagine how either of his parents would handle this kind of situation. They were both shrewd, but in different ways. Leia would use diplomacy—unless something sparked her temper, in which case she would unashamedly speak her mind. Han might use trickery, making promises he could not keep—until the time came to pull out his blaster, if that was what it took to get out of the situation. Both of his parents would try to convince the other party that their interests were aligned, that what each wanted would benefit the other.

"What is it you want?" Ben asked. "If you want money, I can get it. If you want connections or information from the Senate, I can find a way to get them."

"Oh, I'm well connected," Snoke chuckled.

"Then what do I have to do?"

Snoke looked at him with an intensity that was almost like fury. " _Stop fighting your destiny._ You know you're not meant to be a Jedi. Your potential is far greater. You can become _so much more_."

He sounded like every person who had ever told Ben, _You have great things ahead of you._ But Snoke went on: "You know that Skywalker is holding you back, hiding truths from you and from the world. Do you know why he distrusts you?"

Ben was silent, though his thoughts were in a turmoil.

Snoke extended a shriveled hand. "Join me, and I will show you everything you desire to know."

Truth. Knowledge. Certainty. Those were things Ben had always craved. But what he wanted was beside the point. "This isn't about me, this is about Rey. You've made yourself her enemy. I won't turn against her."

Snoke smiled. "Of course not. You'll turn _because_ of her." Then he looked up over Ben's shoulder. "Here she comes now."

Seized with fear, Ben turned and saw Rey running along the lakeshore, her lightsaber ignited. As she drew closer, he could see the expression of determination and hatred and righteous anger on her face.

"Rey, stay back!" Ben shouted, but Rey gave no notice that she heard him.

"Stay away from him!" Rey shouted. Her words could have been addressed to either man. She came to stand beside Ben, her weapon raised in readiness as she faced the being that had cursed her.

Snoke sneered at her. "You're braver than before. What changed?"

Rey did not take her eyes off him, but Ben felt her conviction, affection and gratitude as she answered, "I'm not alone."

Snoke circled the two of them, so he was closer to Ben. "Yes, you've surrounded yourself with powerful allies. It would be a shame if anything happened to them." Snoke raised his hand, and suddenly Ben's entire body went stiff. His vision tilted, and he realized he had been lifted off the ground. Luke had occasionally lifted him with the Force when he was a small child, but never so roughly, or so high.

"No!" Rey shouted, and she charged at Snoke. Ben jerked through the air as Snoke threw him at Rey, knocking them both onto the sand.

Ben barely had time to get to his feet before facing a new terror: lightning shot out of Snoke's outstretched fingertips toward him, and he barely dodged it.

Snoke was aiming at him again when Rey flung herself between them, holding the lightsaber up before her. To Ben's amazement, the plasma blade seemed to absorb the lightning. Rey strained under the energy, then gave a cry and forced it back outward toward Snoke, who stepped back in surprise, pain evident in his facial expression.

Ben gaped openly, impressed and grateful.

Snoke took a breath and stepped toward Rey. "You can save him," he said, gesturing to Ben. "Come with me, and I'll leave him alone."

That made Ben recover his wits. He pulled the blaster from his belt, flipped off the safety catch and shot it at Snoke. The sorcerer lazily held up a hand, stopping the bolt in the air before him. Ben was shocked; he had seen people deflect blaster bolts with lightsabers, but he had never seen anyone stop a bolt in midair.

Snoke sneered. "You obviously have no idea with whom you're dealing." He stepped aside, and then the bolt continued its course, singeing the trees in its path.

They sensed his unspoken meaning: they would be punished for daring to challenge him.

"Leave us," Rey commanded, brandishing her lightsaber.

Ben ignited his own lightsaber as he stood next to Rey. "We're not going anywhere with you." He held his arm and saber out straight in front of him, both a defense and a threat of attack.

"Not tonight, evidently." With that, Snoke turned his back on them and walked toward the forest. He stopped at the edge and turned to speak to them again. "Enjoy your night together. There's no telling how many you'll have." He looked at Ben. "Think about what I said, young Solo. We'll meet again," he promised. Then he withdrew into the shadows.

Breathing heavily, Ben and Rey stared at the forest, then deactivated their sabers and turned at the same time to look at each other.

"Rey—you shouldn't—I'm—" Ben stopped struggling for words when Rey fell into his arms, hugging him fiercely. They clung to each other, taking long, slow breaths, trying to calm themselves after feeling so much adrenaline.

"Thank you," Ben whispered.

Rey turned her head and kissed Ben's cheek. He responded by turning his face toward hers, and their eyes met just briefly before they brought their lips together. They were both clumsy, still afraid, more than anything just relieved. It was hard to say whether they were seeking or offering reassurance. Perhaps both at once.

After a moment, Rey pulled back and looked at Ben with a stern expression. "You're an idiot," she admonished.

Ben stared at her, then bowed his head sheepishly. "I wondered if you'd realize that."

"I'm not saying you're unintelligent," she clarified. "But he's right. You don't know what you're dealing with."

"Neither to you. That's why I had to talk to him, to find out."

"And did you?"

"I—I learned his name. Snoke."

Rey cocked an eyebrow. "Does that name mean anything to you?"

"No."

"He's not some relative of yours?"

Ben snorted. "Thank goodness, no." He paused. "Were you joking, or—"

"You're connected to him somehow. You turned out to be related to heroes—for all I knew, he could have been another relative."

Suddenly a familiar but startling sound rang out over the forest: some kind of craft lifting off. The sky was too dark for them to see it, clouds obscuring the moon and stars.

"He must have left the planet," Ben said, his arm still around Rey's shoulders.

She leaned into him, slipping her arm behind his back. "This was a warning. You realize that."

"I think … it was a test." Ben had no idea whether they had passed or failed in Snoke's view, or what that meant for their future.

Rey hesitated, then ventured, "I think it might be better if I don't go to your birthday party."

Ben frowned at her in surprise. "Why?"

"You're going to be hosting some of the most high-society people in the galaxy. The last thing you need is … _this_." She waved her hand, indicating herself and trees where Snoke had disappeared.

Ben scoffed. "I'm a Jedi. I'm already wrapped up in 'this,'" he said, imitating her hand gesture. "It drives my dad crazy. And _his_ friends aren't exactly what you'd call high-society." Rey did not seem moved, so he changed tack: "If you're not there, I'll spend the whole time worrying about you. If he comes after you again …"

"As you just saw, I can handle him on my own," Rey said coolly. "It's _you_ I'm worried about. You're not protected like I am." She held up the lightsaber that Maz had enchanted for that purpose. "If you're not careful, he'll do to you what he did to me. Or worse."

"I'll take that risk."

"And your family? Your classmates?"

Ben faltered for the briefest of moments before brushing off her concern. "My family are heroes. My classmates are Jedi. They're no strangers to risk."

"Well, maybe I don't want them all risking themselves for me."

"Like you wouldn't do the same for someone else?" Ben shot back.

Rey looked frustrated and pained. She turned away, her arms folded, facing the lake.

When she finally spoke, her voice was melancholy. "Being with you, and with your family … it feels too good to be real. It's like finding a treasure, hiding it so you can come back for it later, and worrying someone else will take it."

"Rey." Ben stood next to her and grasped her hand. "No one is going to take me away. Or my parents. Or you. I won't let him get away with this. And if we let him shape our choices, we'll be giving in to him. He'll have won." He turned to face her and held her hand between both of his. "Rey. Please come."

She met his gaze, and then put her free hand on top of his. "I'll think about it. But I can't promise anything."

Ben looked down at their joined hands. "If you're not sure you'll come to the party … I'd like one more dance tonight."

To that request, Rey silently assented.

They danced, not to music they could hear with their ears, but to the rhythm of the Force as they felt it swirl within them, between them, and around them. It was like sparring and meditating at the same time. When they had practiced every step Leia taught them and tried every one they could think of themselves, they ended up simply swaying in a circle as they held each other.

It was only when his face was hidden over her shoulder that Ben felt some measure of guilt for his actions, or fear for the future.

Holding Rey was like holding an entire world— _his_ world, one he could truly call home. Losing her would be like losing his home planet. And if he was responsible for it, as his mother had been partly responsible for the destruction of Alderaan—

No. He would not entertain the thought. It was too much to even imagine. There was no need to do so anyway. He would make sure nothing happened to her.

When they finally returned to the castle, Ben said, "I'm going to rent you a room for the night."

Rey started to protest, but Ben insisted, "You need to sleep, and you'll be safer and more comfortable as a human if you're indoors."

She could not argue with that. "Where will you be?"

"Back on Hosnian Prime." Ben hesitated, thinking over the timeline for the next two days. "I may not be able to visit again before the party, but I can send someone to bring you, if you decide you want to come. You can let me know through the holonet."

"Alright."

"If you have time, while you're human, you can practice forms and meditation."

Rey groaned, but she was smiling. "Are you sure you don't want to be a Jedi master? You're bossy enough to teach others."

Ben smiled, but his humor was a thin veil for his reluctance to leave. "Stay safe, Rey. May the Force be with you."

"You too, Ben."

He was glad to see her human as he left her. He just wished it was not necessary for him to leave.

* * *

Author's Notes

Dear readers, I hope you've been alright these past few months! I myself am quite well, as are my family and friends. Thank you for your patience in waiting for this update. I hope it gives you some pleasure and hope during these troubling times.

I named this chapter after the term " _musica universalis_ " which means "music of the spheres," or "harmony of the spheres." It was an ancient philosophical concept regarding celestial bodies.

After the Star Wars Roll Out videos "Ben Solo and the Bug Hunters" came out, I had to include a scene about the butterflies. If you haven't seen those shorts yet, what are you waiting for? Go watch parts 1-3! It is the purest young Ben Solo content since his baby scenes in _Last Shot_.

The clash with Snoke and some of Rey and Ben's argument in this chapter are based on scenes from _Barbie in Swan Lake_.

If you've seen or listened to the musical _Hadestown_ by Anais Mitchell, you may have noticed some allusions to lyrics in this chapter and in the title of a previous chapter. If you're not familiar with it, I highly recommend it! So many Star Wars characters have commonalities with the _Hadestown_ characters.

Shout out to my personal friend princess-of-the-sandcastle, who took the time to read this and let me bounce ideas off her.


	11. Legends and Solutions

_Published June 27, 2020_

"Legends and Solutions"

* * *

"Have you ever given orders to the morning,  
or shown the dawn its place,  
that it might take the earth by the edges  
and shake the wicked out of it?  
The earth takes shape like clay under a seal;  
its features stand out like those of a garment.  
The wicked are denied their light,  
and their upraised arm is broken."

~ Job 38:12-15, New International Version

* * *

 _Darkness._

 _Not empty. Heavy, like a blanket made of rich fabric. Deep, like mud you could sink into._

 _A voice, familiar, wise, inviting, intimate._

 _"You don't need to hide. Not from me. I know you. I understand you. I want you. Let me in. Be mine."_

 _Yes. Come in. Be with me. Be part of me. Use me. Take me. Make me yours._

 _Defenses lowered, boundaries dissolved, divisions bridged, distance closed …_

 _Limbs encircling, hands caressing, skin brushing …_

 _Slowly surrounded, prepared to be penetrated and permeated …_

 _Another voice, loud, alarmed, warning: "That's not me!"_

 _Laughter, cruel and triumphant._

 _A sudden, painful burst of light._

 _Dismay, horror, dread. Something is wrong, this thing that seemed so right was a mistake, and it is too late to undo what has been done or stop what is yet to come …_

 _Darkness again, even heavier this time, grasping, squeezing, crushing …_

Star systems apart, Rey and Ben both awoke in terror.

Ben pressed one hand against his forehead and the other against his heart, reeling as he took in his surroundings: he was in his room in his mother's apartment.

He had had bad dreams throughout his life, but this one might have been the most disturbing. Like in the dream he had shared with Rey on Takodana, he had been both subject and witness, experiencing it but also watching it happen. He was certain that Rey and Snoke had been the other two parties, but which ones had they been—the one imparting pleasure and pain, the one experiencing those sensations, or the one who shouted the warning?

Ben wondered if these dreams were simply the work of his or Rey's subconscious, or if Snoke was somehow influencing them, invading their minds as they slept.

He found himself praying, as though to some unidentified deity: _Please let it just be a dream._ He thought of Rey and pleaded with her: _Please be alright, Rey, please …_

To his astonishment, he felt an awareness and heard a response as though she were in the room: _Ben? Is that you?_

He balked. _Rey?_

 _Yes?_

 _Can you actually hear me?_

 _Yes._

Ben was amazed. He knew it was common for Force-users to be able to sense each other, or people they cared about. But to actually hear their thoughts clearly, across the galaxy, was something of a different level.

 _Did you dream that too?_ Rey asked.

Ben shuddered, remembering the sensations that had been so indefinable but which he could now name—the sweet seduction, the foolish surrender, the gross violation. He hated the thought that Rey had experienced that too. _Yes._

Rey's tone was dark with sarcasm. _I guess that's what I get for sleeping as a human again._

Ben clenched his fists around the fabric of his sheets. Trying to shield his thoughts from Rey, he vowed that someday, he would hold her as she slept, and ensure that her rest was peaceful, free of fear or danger. He himself would rest much more easily knowing that she was safe in his arms.

He tried opening himself to the connection again, asking, _Are you alright, other than that?_

 _Yes. Are you?_

 _Yes._

 _Is this normal for Jedi? Hearing each other this way?_

 _I don't think so. Not like this. This is something else. I don't know why, but the Force is connecting us._ He was not sure whether he liked this, considering how their relationship had developed.

There was a knock at Ben's door, and then his mother's voice came through. "Ben, are you awake?"

"Yeah, Mom."

"We have to go over some plans. If you want to give input, you'd better get up soon."

Rey must have heard this through Ben's thoughts, because he heard her voice in his mind again. _Go get ready for your party. I'll be fine._

 _You will come, won't you? For me?_

But there was no answer. Rey seemed to have closed off her mind for now. Ben sighed and reluctantly got out of bed.

His mind stayed on Rey and Snoke even as he refreshed himself. Meeting the sorcerer face-to-face has been more frightening than he had expected. It had been a long time since he met someone who truly meant to harm him or someone he loved. The last time he could remember, he had been a boy, and Luke had defended him from their attackers. Now he was a man, but he had been just as helpless, relying on Rey to defend him when all he wanted was to protect her. And then there was his disconcerting conversation with Snoke, who seemed to know more about Ben and Rey than they knew about themselves.

One thing Luke had stressed throughout his teaching was the necessity of letting go of fear. Ben hated to admit it even to himself, but in general, he feared many things. Often his fear manifested itself through other emotions, anger being chief among them. He feared and was angered by his own insignificance, his uncertain future, his family's strange secrecy, his inability to make anything of himself, his lack of control over his powers, the possibility that his parents were right about him being a monster.

Rey had more or less dispelled his fear of being unlovable. On the other hand, while in some ways she knew him better than anyone else, she did not know about all his flaws. She did not know how awful he could be to his family and classmates and even strangers. If she found out … she could change her mind about him, Ben realized in dismay.

There were all kinds of reasons why she might decide to end their relationship, to not continue seeing him or plan a life together. That was certainly something to fear.

But his fear of losing their relationship still paled in comparison to his fear of losing Rey herself, either to a cursed animal form or to death.

Ben could not allow either of those fates to befall her.

* * *

Maz Kanada's castle reminded Luke of the Mos Eisley cantina on Tatooine. Han had been a patron of both establishments during his smuggling days, and the two venues had similar atmospheres of grit, greed, and gratuity.

Luke found Maz quickly and managed to speak before she could proclaim his name for everyone to hear. "Maz, please don't call attention to me. I'm on a sensitive mission."

She sniffed. "I assume you need something."

"Yes: a word with your mechanic."

This gave Maz pause. "Is this about your nephew? He comes to see her almost every night."

Luke blinked. "Does he, really?"

"They either hang around here or loiter by the lake. Last time he even took her offworld."

"Is she with him now?"

Maz shook her head and pointed across the room. "That's her."

Luke followed her finger and saw a young human woman cleaning the tables. When she bent over, he saw a lightsaber— _his_ lightsaber, the first one he had ever held—hanging from her belt.

For a moment he just studied her. Then he crossed the room at a moderate pace. She noticed him approaching and kept an eye on him but continued to work.

"Rey?"

She paused and looked up, surprised and somewhat wary. "Yes?" She straightened up, and her eyes widened as she took in of his traditional Jedi robes.

"My name is Luke Skywalker. I'm Ben Solo's uncle."

She gaped, but her amazement quickly giving way to excitement. "Master Skywalker. I—I'm so glad to meet you."

Luke smiled, hoping to put her at ease. "Likewise. Ben spoke very highly of you." He did not fail to notice the way Rey's cheeks reddened at the mention of Ben's praise. "Do you have time for a break?"

"Yes—of course." Rey folded the cloth she had been using to wipe the table.

Luke turned to Maz, who had followed him on her short legs. "Is there a private place where we can talk?"

She waved her hand. "This way. And I expect you'll want food, too."

"That would be welcome."

Maz seated them in a slightly more private section, with a circular booth surrounding a table. There was a slightly awkward pause when she left, as Rey and Luke regarded each other, not sure what to make of this person they had heard so much about.

"How are you?" Luke asked.

The politeness and normalcy of his question made Rey laugh. "It's hard to say. I don't know where to start—so much has happened in such a short time."

Luke nodded, understanding. "I should probably ask about your training. How is it going?"

"Pretty good, I think. It's, um, been a lot of trial and error … but I'm learning quickly. Thank you for the texts, by the way."

"You're welcome. Does Ben treat you well?"

"Yes. He's—" Rey paused, smiling slightly. "He's wonderful."

"I'm glad to hear it. I wasn't sure how he'd be as a teacher." Luke lowered his gazed to the weapon hanging from her belt. "May I see that lightsaber?"

Rey nodded quickly, then carefully unclipped the lightsaber from her belt and held it out to him. Luke accepted it with both hands, and Rey saw that the mechanical one was covered with a glove.

He regarded the lightsaber with wonder. "This is over half a century old now. Do you know its history?"

"Only what Maz told me—it was yours, and your father's."

"My father made it during the Clone Wars. Obi-Wan Kenobi kept it safe for almost twenty years before passing it on to me. I lost it in a duel on Cloud City over thirty years ago."

"Maz had it in her basement. When I first came here, I felt it calling me." Rey's voice became hesitant. "I suppose I should offer it back to you."

Luke smiled and shook his head. "I made my own lightsaber with a kyber crystal that called to me. I suppose, if I hadn't lost this one, I would have passed it on to Ben. But I don't think he'll want it now that it's called to you." He passed the lightsaber back to Rey, who held it in both hands. "I don't know what the Force is playing at, leading you to it. I can only guess that you have some role to play in this story."

"What story?" Rey asked curiously.

"Of my family. Of the galaxy. We Skywalkers tend to have a bigger impact on the galaxy than most beings." He could not keep a trace of bitterness out of his voice as he said this.

"That seems to be why Snoke cursed me. So I _can't_ have a role in—whatever bigger picture is playing out."

Luke looked intently at her. "You're certain there's no other reason?"

"I don't know for sure. I only have guesses." She bit her lip. "He came here, last night. It was the first time saw him in person since …" She trailed off, not wanting to relive that terrifying experience of being cursed.

Maz brought over a tray of food and drink, then sat down with them. At that point, Luke got down to business. "The main reason I'm here is that Ben asked me to look for information that might help you break your curse."

Rey's entire demeanor lit up with hope. "Did you find any?" she asked, leaning forward eagerly.

"I did." Luke hefted his satchel onto the table, opened it, and drew out an old, leather-bound text. "I had to call on some old friends to find this. It's an analysis of different legends, which are the closest thing I could find to Ben's description of your situation."

Rey scooched over on the bench to look at the pages as he opened the book. "So, there have been other cases like mine? Where people turn into animals?"

"Well, that's the difficulty: we can't be sure which of these stories really happened, and which were just invented tales. Sometimes, when a story is passed down through generations, fact and fiction become blurred. But there may still be grains of truth we can pull out."

Such abstract, speculative language seemed to make Rey impatient. She asked a more pressing question: "Does it say anything about the change between human and animal? Like, whether one form becomes more dominant than another?"

Luke could understand that being a concern. "From these legends, it seems pretty fluid. It could be a matter of the individual's psyche, whether they try to retain their humanity or give in to their animalistic side."

"And in these stories, were people able to break the curse?"

"Sometimes. This author had a theory." Luke pointed to a few lines and read aloud, _"The pattern created by these accounts indicates that such a curse can be broken by a bond of authentic love demonstrated by an act of complete self-gift or sacrifice."_

Rey stared at the page, processing the academic language and the information it conveyed. Luke elaborated, "What Maz did to the lightsaber weakened the spell, but only an act of selfless love will break it completely." He pointed further down and said, "There's also a warning. _However, if the cursed one or their beloved breaks faith, any protective talismans will lose their efficacy, and the victim will remain cursed forevermore."_

Now Rey looked stricken. "What … why would that be?"

Maz shrugged. "It makes sense in my mind. To love is to make yourself vulnerable, to open yourself to the possibility of being hurt."

Luke nodded. "Now, this doesn't specify whether the love needs to be in the context of a certain type of relationship. It could be the kind of love between spouses, between a parent and child, or between siblings or friends. Those bonds can manifest themselves in different ways. So I think the question for you is, what are your strongest relationships, and are there any that should be strengthened?"

At this, Maz looked knowingly at Rey, who blushed deeply. Luke raised his eyebrows at this reaction, his suspicion growing stronger.

Rey stammered, "I, um … well … I guess Ben and his parents haven't told you?"

"I haven't had a chance to speak with them for several days." He had received an invitation to the party Leia was organizing in Ben's honor, and he had sent his acceptance, but they had not spoken at length.

"Well … um … Ben and I … we've … become … close. Closer than friends, or master and student. So I think that's my strongest relationship."

"Really?" Luke was pleased and slightly amused.

Rey looked down to hide her smile. "He told me he loves me. More than once, actually. I believed him … but …" She trailed off, then looked at Luke and tried to start again. "You've known Ben longer than I have. Do you think he … is there any chance, what it says here, about breaking faith …?"

Luke considered this thoughtfully. "I'd say … it's unlikely. Ben can be very private, but he isn't a very good liar. If he said that, then he probably believes it's true. And in general, his feelings tend to be strong and genuine. I don't think Ben would make such a bold statement if he wasn't sincere and committed."

Rey seemed reassured to hear this, but she was also puzzled. "But if we're really in love, why hasn't that broken the curse?"

"Because love—romantic or otherwise—is not just emotion or attraction or attachment. Those things may be part of it, but love is much more than that."

Rey looked at him curiously. "Are you speaking from experience?"

The question made Luke pause. "Not my own," he said finally. "I should mention that I disagree with what the Jedi taught about emotional attachment being a weakness. It's true that unchecked passions can lead to the dark side. But authentic love can turn us toward the light."

"I'm not sure I understand."

Luke smiled wryly. "Sometimes I'm not sure anyone does."

Maz spoke up. "I've lived over a thousand years, and I've found that true love is very rare."

Rey looked at her and asked sarcastically, "Are we talking 'meet the parents' rare? 'Everybody gets along' rare?"

"That's a start. But it's when two people love each other more than they love themselves. That kind of selflessness has awesome power."

Luke nodded in agreement. "I suspect that what this refers to," he said, tapping the page of the text, "is a decision, an act of will, beyond emotion or affection."

Rey considered the words on the page. "When it says 'complete self-gift or sacrifice' … what does that mean? Who needs to demonstrate that—me, or the one I love?"

"It could mean either of you, or both of you. Its exact form could vary." Luke drummed his fingers on the table, deliberating whether to say something. Then he said, "If it was a case of romantic love … there's something unique about the bond between a husband and wife. That relationship involves mutual self-gift. I would guess that getting married—making vows and surrendering your bodies to each other—might break it."

Rey stared. "So … you think Ben and I should …?"

At this, Luke let out a burst of laughter. "I'm not saying that," he said frankly. "I'm not here to pressure you. Only you know your own heart."

Rey hugged herself, as though protecting her heart. "I love Ben, but I don't know if I can marry him."

"May I ask why not?"

Rey did not answer right away. Luke waited patiently until she found the words to explain. "Ben took me to meet his parents the other night. Your sister, Leia, wanted me to choose a dress from your mother's collection, to wear to his birthday party."

"Really?" Luke was surprised, but also appreciative. "That's nice of her. She must like you."

"I guess. But seeing that finery, and hearing her droid talk about the kind of people who will be at the party … it made me wonder …"

"You think you wouldn't fit in?" A crinkle appeared between Luke's eyes. "Rey, my sister may be a senator, and she may have some royal titles, but we're all human beings. Look at Leia—she married a smuggler. And Ben isn't likely to look for a spouse among the galaxy's social elite."

"Han was a war hero, and a legend even before that. Ben is practically a prince. Not to mention a Jedi Knight." Rey bowed her head, looking down at her workworn hands and ragged clothes. "I'm just a scavenger."

"Do you know what I see?" Maz reached out and touched Rey's cheek, drawing her eyes toward her. "Kindness, laughter, and bravery. All worth more than any treasure a king could possess."

Rey looked back in wonder, touched but not quite believing.

"The Force chose you to be its instrument," Luke said firmly. "And it led you and Ben into each other's lives. That's no small thing. Which reminds me: have you thought about coming to the training temple?"

"I've thought about it. Haven't decided yet."

"Well, I'll be bringing some of my students to the party. You can meet them then."

Rey was incredulous. "A party? At a time like this?"

Luke smiled, the wrinkles around his eyes softening. "Rey, if there's one thing I learned during the war, it's that you need to enjoy moments of happiness with the people you love while you can. Even if those moments happen during or in between crises." His tone became more serious. "Things could get worse before they get better."

They did not talk much after this exchange. While Luke ate and chatted with Maz, Rey carefully turned the pages of the book, skimming the text for anything that seemed relevant to her.

She paused when she came across a curious term. "What's a Force dyad?"

"They are extremely rare—unseen for generations at a time," Luke said. "They're pairs of Force-users who share an exceptionally strong connection."

"Alone, they are two; but together, they are one," Maz said, as though reciting a proverb or a line from a poem.

"Two for one," Rey murmured thoughtfully. She had heard that phrase used by traders on Jakku when they were striking bargains.

"Is there anything else you want to talk about?" Luke asked pointedly.

Rey thought for a long moment, then shook her head. "I need time to think about all of this." She closed the book carefully and passed with back to Luke. "If you see Ben before I do … please don't tell him about all of this. He has enough going on right now. I'll talk to him about it after the party."

"If you prefer that." Luke packed up his bag and stood. "I'm sorry I can't be of more help you, Rey."

Rey stood up too. "No, Master, you've been a great help. I appreciate you going to all this trouble for me."

They smiled at each other, and both started to stay, "May the Force—" Rey broke off laughing nervously. "Sorry."

"Go ahead," Luke said courteously.

"May the Force be with you. It's an honor to meet you, Master Skywalker."

Luke bowed slightly. "May the Force be with you, Rey. It was a pleasure meeting you."

* * *

Author's Notes

Disclaimer: Many lines in Luke, Rey, and Maz's conversation are from _Barbie of Swan Lake_.

I hope you've been staying healthy and safe, both physically and mentally/emotionally. I will probably update this story (finally getting to the ball!) around the end of summer.

In the meantime, I plan to begin posting a new, multi-chapter post-TROS Reylo story. If that interests you, sign up for Author Alert or check my page.

I also made a new cover art for this story, which can be viewed on my DeviantArt account. I'm no longer very active on DeviantArt (I really don't like the new format, it made the site much harder to use), but my fan-related works like collages and cover art are still there.


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